


Change Our Destiny

by felicia_angel



Series: Dragontamers [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Battle City Arc, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Shadow Games, Yami Malik is still scary, a near-complete rewrite, always a girl!jounouchi, much drama to be had, this part will very likely be a downer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-03-12 02:53:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3340901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicia_angel/pseuds/felicia_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Battle City Finals begins, the threat of what might happen to Jounouchi has Kaiba working to keep her safe, while Yami works to deal with the evil that Marik has created and to hopefully find a cure for those hurt during the Semi-Finals. But before all that, Jounouchi finds out that she might be the one to defeat Marik, and save the rest from their fate...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Island Alcatraz

The night, overall, had been very quiet. Ishizu, Anzu, and Varon had slept in the makeshift hospital room, Ishizu using her Item’s power to shield them from any influence as they rested, the locked door code keeping Marik out in the physical plane as the mental one was also safe.

She hated this. Though the three unconscious Duelists were not in any immediate danger, their inability to wake, or for either herself or the Pharaoh to reach them, was disturbing. Unless they were reached soon, and woken, their bodies would begin to fail and their spirit would be left trapped within. It had been how her father had died, and one of the many reasons why Rishid and Marik’s escape and decisions had not affected her as much as they should have.

_I was simply glad to know he wasn’t alone, that the parasite had something to stop it._

She slowly took Rishid’s hand in her own, wishing he’d wake up and help her, tell her everything was alright. She didn’t know if her brother was still alive within the parasite that had grown into his mind, or if he was fully consumed and without any way to reach her or the others. If he fell to such a fate, and left her without Rishid as well…

_This is what happens, because of that man, because of him and his group._

She allowed herself the angry thought, wishing that Layla had already kept her promise and destroyed the man and his clan. Layla Naunet, or Sekhmet as she was often called by Ishizu’s family, was a dangerous foe. She had the only lesser Items around, all three attached to her and her shadows, dangerous lion-beasts that consumed anything that she pointed them at. She also had no love for the one who held the Key and the Scales. The thought made Ishizu shudder - what type of person forced his will upon _two_ Items? Her own Item allowed her glimpses into the future, so long as it was set, but finding one in a future with so many strings was always hard. Even knowing she would be at the Finals had not stopped her from feeling a bit worried when her strategy looked like it wouldn’t work.

_To have one like mine is to accept that fate is fickle and time is changeable. There are no set things, save for events that surround certain ideas or concepts._

If her family had taken to carving up all their children, not just her brother’s back, would it be _her_ as the darkness, not him? The Tauk could show her such a thing, or what might lead to it, but she had no right to look into it. She simply wanted to make sure everyone was safe, and that the end results left them with a way to heal everyone.

_No matter how I look, all I see is Katsuye Jounouchi falling to my brother’s hands, her soul scorched and ruined. I know that Kaiba wishes to change that future, and so will Yami, but I doubt she will allow them the chance._

_\--_

Mokuba woke with a wide yawn, rubbing his eyes as he looked over to see his brother up, typing on the computer as a tired-looking Hinagata-san talked as well.

“ _It’s still at 13%. There is a way to defeat it, but you have to be VERY lucky._ ”

“Could any of our Decks defeat it, so long as that card is there?”

“ _It’s still low, but that 13% runs through for yours, Yugi’s, and maybe even Jounouchi’s, if she gets things right. I haven’t seen her whole Deck, though, so she might pull a card that could change things up a bit. It’s the timing that worries me._ ”

“What about it?” Mokuba asked, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and frowning when he heard Ren’s coo from her own video screen before going quiet as Hinagata glared at her.

“ _We’ve figured that Ra has two main powers - the first is that attack it used during the Duel against Mai, where the attack power was equal to the three that were sacrificed to it. My problem is what happened._ ”

Mokuba frowned and looked at his brother, who said, “It appeared that Mai _could_ have read the words, but...an outside force prevented it.”

Mokuba shivered at the implication, and what it meant. If Marik had done something with the Shadows to create a disadvantage for everyone, they couldn’t win…

“ _The second power is a one-shot kill. Basically you have to sacrifice all of your Life Points but one, and attack in one go. Which is where the timing part comes in._ ”

Ren spoke up then, “ _Basically the only way to stop Ra is a spell-card, and hope there’s no other resurrection cards in that guy’s Deck, or that he doesn’t bring back the Monster Reborn card. But it has to be the RIGHT card - if you do one that reverses everything, it fails because he could try that again. If you don’t negate the power, he might have all of his life points returned. Getting things to work is a very hard balance, and one that will take a lot of stalling and hoping to get._ ”

Mokuba glanced at Kaiba, happy when he saw his brother give him a smile. “I have a solution. I’ll do my best to fight Marik first, and end this whole thing before it begins.”

\--

Of everyone that gets ready, only a few remain onboard the ship. Ishizu, Varon, and Anzu all stay with the comatose patients, Anzu hoping that she could maybe bring out Bakura’s soul but uncertain of how. Ishizu wishes to work with them, but the darkness from her brother, as well as the general work towards that final showdown atop the huge tower coming out of the ruined island. Marik seemed to enjoy the idea of dealing damage to people atop the huge tower and among the wreackage, but both Kaiba and Yugi were uneasy. The tower was the one that had been shown in the final scene they’d seen at the museum, the one that Ishizu said could go either towards darkness or light.

Layla looked around with a sense of unease as they headed in, noting a few of the guards as well as seeing Honda arguing briefly with Otogi about something. Katsuye was also nervous but obviously curious about the area, as if trying to make sense of the broken machinery and discarded weapons and technology that was around them.

Kaiba waited as they all gathered, most in a cluster away from Marik and glaring at the man, before he motioned to Otogi, apparently now the spokesman, who smiled and said, “Welcome to the Battle City Finals. This is hosted on the island called Alcatraz, the former testing facility for KaibaCorp’s now-defunct Weapons Division. The final battles will take place at the top of the Tower,” he pointed to the larger tower in the middle of the debris field, “with the winner gaining all three of the God Cards.”

Marik smirked at that, though he obviously seemed impatient, as Otogi said, “So, without further ado, let’s go to see who will be the first two to Duel.”

The group slowly headed out, Shizuka staying close to Katsuye and Layla while Anzu walked beside Yugi, Mokuba to one side and shielded from Marik’s view by Kaiba.

“Katsuye...can I have a quick word alone?”

Shizuka glanced at Layla, who gave her a small smile of reassurance, before she headed over to talk to Anzu and Yugi. Katsuye waited as they walked, Layla saying, “I do know a bit about the Shadows.”

“You do?”

“It does come up in studies, especially about games, but it also means learning a bit from those who survived, or who didn’t.”

Katsuye stopped, looking at her as Layla let out a breath before saying, “I don’t think Mai or the others will survive this unless someone takes Marik down right away.”

“And you think I can do that?”  
“I think you have the best chance, because of Fulgara and because of your Deck. Marik doesn’t know it that well, and he will underestimate you and your ability. He will do his best to torment Yugi and to just kill Kaiba, but he’ll think he can psyche you out or have some advantage because of whatever he did.”

Katsuye looked away, doing her best to focus on the end of that Duel, not the Duel itself or what little she remembered of it. Her mind still felt like it’d taken a hit, in a way that no concussion or any other hit to the head had given her, and she looked up to see Marik watching them, giving her a smirk that made her blood boil.

“I know you can do this,” Layla said as they started walking again, catching up with the others, “and I know that everyone is going to try to protect you as well. You need to get Ra, and show them what you can do.”

Katsuye let out a breath as they caught up with the others and Shizuka came over, looking at her worriedly as Katsuye tried to give her a smile. “I’m fine, Shizuka. I’m just wondering what new ideas Kaiba’s goona pull for this. Especially since this place apparently belonged to that jerk that adopted him.”

“It did,” Kaiba said, apparently hearing her comment, “he used this place to test any and all new weapons he could think of, and it’s distance nearly allowed him to have maritime law status over the island when his money and influence could not force others to look the other way. This was also one of the first places that my holographic technology was tested, but not for what I wanted it to be used for.”

Everyone was silent as he added, his tone neutral but hints of anger creeping in, “My adopted father used his power and advanced technology to create this island. Three years ago, the Tower was built to test my own creation, one that he stole from me. So for this, I am taking it back, and using it to lay the new foundation for KaibaCorp. After this event, Alcatraz will be demolished and scrapped, so that his one last legacy will finally be tossed away.”

Marik seemed to find that funny, chuckling as he finally spoke, “ **Fathers and their sins are never too far away. I have my own father to thank for what I have become,** ” he spread his arms, “ **and you have yours to thank for the power and influence you now wield.** ”

“I have myself to thank - I have rebuilt KaibaCorp, and myself,” Kaiba told him, glaring the holder of the Rod down as he added, “doing that, even when you acknowledge where some of your old thoughts still come from, is never easy. Apparently, you’re too locked in your hope for revenge and destruction to ever figure that out.”

Marik’s smirk faded as he glared at Kaiba before Honda broke the silence, announcing, “The first stage of the finals is ready! Duelists, enter into the tower, one at a time.”

Marik turned and went in first, the guards glaring him down as he did before Kaiba headed in. Yugi let out a breath, allowing Yami to take over before he went in. Katsuye was last, glancing at Layla who gave her a reassuring smile before she went in as well, entering the remaining open door and stepping into the odd contraption that was before her, with a few of the slots looking like the older Duel system that had been used by Pegasus.

The thing moved upward suddenly, making her nearly fall forward as she worked to regain her footing and looked over, seeing the others around her as Yami looked startled as well, Kaiba appearing cool and Marik looking impressed as Otogi said, arriving with the others, “Now, the battle to determine the first Duel of the Finals begins!”

\--

Layla walked behind everyone, listening as Itert and Menw growled and paced around near her, Merew upset over their actions and how they were acting. Layla ignored it, knowing that Itert was drawn to Katsuye because of how it had helped her, but also because she reminded Itert of the girl that Seti had loved, the one they had been unable to save, and whose sacrifice had spurred him to fight the evil and overpower it, even if it cost him his Pharaoh and her sebah.

_She’s not at all like her, though. Kisara was quiet and soft-spoken, and her power was inherent and she was always avoiding people so they wouldn’t hurt her. She had been accepted because she saved Seti’s life, even unconsciously, and because her power could slowly be trained. Katsuye is nothing like her...save for what her fate is._

She felt no remorse over what she’d told Katsuye and what she knew the girl would do, in order to save her friends and to show her ability to the men around her. Katsuye was going to Duel Marik, even if Layla hadn’t encouraged her. Of all the ways this could end, that one thing had no divergent, no other way, nothing that would change things. Marik would fight Katsuye, and Katsuye’s failure would only spur on the two in the way that Kisara’s death had not.

After this...well, after this, Layla could finally put all of the fights and finally, truly, see her sebah as he should have been years ago, as the Dead Osiris, and she could return to his side in the afterlife and leave this world behind for the living to enjoy.

 


	2. Free-for-All (Jounouchi vs Yami vs Kaiba vs Marik)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle to decide who fights first in the finals begins.

Otogi was a born salesman, and his years of selling himself and his abilities, mostly because his father demanded it, had paid off in that he was able to get this job at the very last minute and with the added bonus and fear of possibly dying. On the upside, he’d get to see a good match-up, and also he might get to talk sweetly to Shizuka and the others again.

The downside is knowing that the guy with what looks like something underneath his forehead is bulging out is the insane psychopath who wants to kill everyone is going to be at said event. It also doesn’t help that it’s obvious he’s gunning for _everyone_. That always tended to stop anything from being as fun or safe or even allow people to flirt.

 _Well, at least now I can show Honda that I can be serious_ , he thinks as the four rise above them and he explains the rules for this part of the game. It’s basically a free-for-all fight that will determine the first two to fight, and he sees Yugi and Jounouchi listening intently to the rules as Otogi explains them, the Insane Psycho only listening briefly while Kaiba waits. Of course the guy who designed and set up the challenge would know the rules to his own game, but at least he’s listening and not acting like an asshole about it.

“Once the first two reach the top of the tower, the first part of the Finals Duels will begin! The four players will take alternating terms, a determined now!”

Everyone looked down at him as he continued, noticing Honda shifting and looking worried about something. “You will take out one monster card from your Deck, and the one with the highest attack will go first! However, that monster cannot be returned to your Deck!”

He had to applaud Kaiba for that one. The monster had to be high-enough to get you one of the first turns, but not important enough to really turn the upcoming Duels. So you could either give up an ante-card, or one that didn’t always work in your Deck.

The group looked through for a few minutes before he called for them to show their cards. The order was set then - Kaiba was going first, then Marik, then Yugi, and finally, Jounouchi.

 _Is that what Honda’s worried about?_ Otogi wondered as he announced the order and started the Duel. The actual proper point wouldn’t start until everyone had gone first, and the group here to watch at least didn’t look nervous about what was going to happen. If anything, the only one nervous was Honda, and Otogi was guessing that was because of what he’d said to Jounouchi and his failure to apologize before the start of this whole thing.

_Hopefully the idiot will actually apologize soon. If he doesn’t, I will. You don’t underestimate your best friend._

\--

Kaiba looks around at the three opponents, his concentration sharp as he considers what to do. He’s drawn so that he might go first, but that means Marik is after him, then Yami and Katsuye. While there is no rule against protecting one of the others, he doubts that protection from both himself _and_ Yami is something Katsuye wants or even will accept. Not to mention that Marik might use it to exploit them and get Katsuye to fight him anyway, if only to cause more pain and suffering.

 _I said I wasn’t going to let her get hurt, and I won’t!_ Kaiba thought as his turn came up, getting him to glance at the other two opponents. If he didn’t face off against Yami in this first battle, he wouldn’t have a chance of defeating Ra or Marik. The same went for Yami and his Deck - no matter what, they _needed_ to have the other two in order to defeat Ra. But the thought of putting Katsuye up against Marik after what Ishizu had said…

_Stop it! I will change this fate!_

The first round goes quickly - no one is allowed to attack until everyone has gone at least once, and he has to glare Marik down when Katsuye fails to put up any monster, instead only laying down a card and ending her turn with a great deal of irritation. If he didn’t try to attack her, or at least didn’t act like a Duelist, Marik was going to go after her...Yami and he could only protect her for so long.

“I place one card on the field,” he said finally, placing his trap-card in case of an attack as he glanced over at Yami. He had his defense monster, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he used it to defend Katsuye. It would be a waste to attack Katsuye and show that to Marik, though. “End turn.”

Katsuye glared at him as Marik summoned another monster, using his weaker one on Vors Raider as Kaiba frowned. The man enjoyed his monsters that had special abilities, and used them whenever he could to try to take on any other monster.

He was _not_ expecting it to destroy Vors Raider and then send Katsuye the hit points, raising her platform up above them and closer to the arena as Yami’s turn came up, the other Duelist glaring Marik down before summoning one of his stronger monsters. One look at Kaiba seemed to be enough for him to use Gilfar to attack, Kaiba easily using his trap card to redirect the attack to Marik, and Yami using a spell card to ensure it worked and Marik took the damage.

But it sent him up near Katsuye, only making it more likely that she and Marik would be the first to fight. He saw Yami frowning at that as well, as if angry or annoyed with how things were turning out, as Katsuye cast a glance at Marik, obviously wary of him. Kaiba wanted to get her away from Marik, but he also knew that doing anything like that was going to piss her off.

_But what to do? Why does she seem so determined to fight Marik?_

He looked down briefly, seeing Layla watching with a critical eye and seeming without any worry. _What is her reason for being here? How did she convince Ishizu to allow her onboard?_

“I summon Gearfried in Attack mode!” Katsuye’s voice brought him out of his thoughts as she pointed at Kaiba, “Get him!”

Kaiba glared at her as the attack hit and went up, though she looked very much like she was both apologetic and trying to convey something. Did she _want_ him to attack her? Why?

_She attacked me when she had the chance...and I didn’t attack her…_

He looked down at her as she glared back up at him again, waiting as his turn began.

_She wants me to attack her and have her face Marik? Why? What’s the point?_

He supposed it was the same one he’d have if Pegasus was alive and challenged him. No matter what, he’d do his best to challenge him on his own.

_She wants to prove what he did to her hasn’t made her afraid of him...sorry, but I’m not going to let him near you. I said I wouldn’t, and I won’t. I won’t let that future that the Ishtars saw come to pass, no matter what anyone says!_

\--

Kaiba goes after Marik the moment his turn starts, despite being the highest of the group. Yami didn’t like how things were turning out, especially how Kaiba was playing the game. He was doing his best to avoid helping or hurting Jounouchi, and it only meant that if they weren’t careful, she would end up facing off against Marik first. Yami isn’t sure why, but something has enhanced her determination to face Marik instead of himself or Kaiba, and it makes him worry over the outcome. Something, some dark thought, is itching at the back of his mind, like a sense of deja vu or some half-remembered memory. He doesn’t like it, and can feel Yugi being affected by it as well, as if trying to figure it out as Yami watches and waits for his turn to come up.

Marik’s attack against Jounouchi is almost a success when he uses the special ability, but instead she manages to raise him up a bit more, using the one card she has to reverse the spell and take out Marik’s monster. He can see her glaring at both him and Kaiba as Marik barely manages to fend her off, the two now without any monsters as the turn falls on Yami. Overall, though, Jounouchi is the better one to attack if he was going on simply who to go after first. She had a deck, like Marik’s, that neither he nor Kaiba really knew well, and was augmented now by the monsters she’d won during Battle City. Marik was more dangerous, with the God Ra card, but Jounouchi could easily defeat either himself or Kaiba with the right card.

“You know,” he hears Jounouchi say, her voice loud enough to carry in the room as she glares at him, “there’s only one choice in this thing, you idiot. And I said _after_ , not during.”

Kaiba is glaring at him now, eyes narrowed in suspicion, as Yami looks over at her and hears Yugi say, “ _Let her do this. Please, aibou._ ”

“I place Kuriboh in defense mode,” he said, not answering either of them with his words, “and attack Jounouchi with the Gilfar Demon!”

Kaiba looked panicked as Jounouchi rose, a glare now leveled at Yami as he watched Jounouchi draw her next card, a smile on her face as she said, “I place one card on the field and summon the Legendary Fisherman! Go get Kaiba!”

The panicked look returned as he seemed ready to take it, Jounouchi suddenly yelling, “Fight me, you goddamn coward!”

Kaiba’s panic turned so quickly to a murderous glare that it made Yami almost step back as--

\-- _there was blood on the white stones, and the area was in ruins, as he heard a soft voice whisper, “fight...you must…” before a pale hand fell down, and he heard the man behind him let out a wail as the thing they were fighting came for them--_

“I activate Destruction Ring!” he looked angry but also desperate as the ring appeared around the Fisherman before it detonated, but Jounouchi didn’t go up any higher, smiling instead as Marik let out a frustrated, “ **WHAT?** ” as his life points disappeared.

“I activated Grave Robber,” she said, “so I should thank you, Marik, for that handy card you used earlier to get me to lose life-points.”

Marik glared at her as he rose above them, and Yami suddenly froze as he glanced over at Kaiba, who seemed frozen as he also looked up to where Jounouchi was. She had no cards on her side of the field - she was the only one that he could easily attack without worrying about spells or traps. No matter what Kaiba decided, she was the _only_ choice to go after.

Jounouchi looked down at Kaiba, her annoyance evident. “What are you waiting for?”

“I’m not letting you do this,” he growled out, obviously angry at the position she put him in, “I’m not letting you face that madman after what he’s done.”

“You don’t get to dictate what I get to do,” she told him, her own anger obvious, “I can handle myself!”

“He’s worse now than he was when he first…” Kaiba stopped, looking away, then back to her before saying, “I swore I would never let him hurt you again. You cannot ask me to do this!”

“I’m not _asking_ ,” she told him, “I’m _telling_. I don’t care what Marik has or what tricks he’ll try on me, I can handle it. If you keep acting like I need to be kept from this, it will only make me even more of a target! I have my own way of handling Marik. You and Yami are supposed to have that big destiny-duel.”

“SCREW DESTINY!” Kaiba yelled at her, getting even the few on the floor to look at him in surprise, “I won’t let--I will change destiny however I can. I have carved out my own path for this long, I won’t let destiny dictate this when there’s every chance I could lose you! I am not going to let that happen, not when I only just figured out what I want.”

Jounouchi is quiet, looking down as her bangs fall over her eyes, obscuring them from view, and Yami feels himself shudder. What was Kaiba talking about? Did this have to do with the vision he’d just had?

“Kaiba,” he finally spoke up, even though he didn’t want to say it, “If you don’t attack her, I will.”

Kaiba looked over at Yami sharply, glaring at him, as Yami said, “You are doing the same thing I did at Duelist Kingdom. You’re trying to protect her when she’s her own person, and she’ll be able to handle Marik.”

Kaiba is silent, glaring at him before he says, “Then I won’t give you the chance. I sacrifice my knight to summon Luster Dragon #2! Attack the Archfiend!”

Yami doesn’t even make a motion as he says, “I activate the Swords of Revealing Light!”

The dragon stopped in it’s tracks, roaring Kaiba’s frustration as Yami’s turn came and Kaiba found himself stuck behind the Swords as Jounouchi looked at Yami, her face unreadable as he said, “I will not stop you from facing Marik, Jounouchi. No matter if this is destiny or not, I cannot stop it. As you said before, we will have our Duel after this fight - so I expect you to survive this, no matter what.”

She finally gave him a smile as she said, “I’m not going down with a fight.”

\--

Kaiba is quiet as the pod takes him up, the cards returning to his Deck as he looks down to where Yami is also traveling up. Knowing that the God Cards give agency to Yami, allow him to learn his past and finally find peace, was one thing. He was ready to give Yami the cards to allow that, before he managed to hold them and use them to show himself able to return to his place as the winner of the tournaments he’d once so easily gone through without any competition.

He’d been both happy and upset to have Yami and Yugi as a rival, as someone he could face off against and actually have to use strategies and think over what to do. With Katsuye, he had to face the truth that a lot of it was based on luck, based on his stacked Deck.

But now...now he had to hope that what he’d seen, that what he felt would occur, wouldn’t. He didn’t want to see her fall to Marik. He didn’t want her to face him and Ra. The card was overly powered and would be a card that Marik would work to pull out as soon as he could.

And _Yami_ had sent her to face this danger, acting like this was part of accepting her as a Duelist and able to face a man that had, when he was saner, brutalized her and forced her into a suicide pact as well as messed with her mind in such a way that it was obvious she feared the man. He hadn’t sworn to protect her only to have Yami do such a thing and for her to argue with him about protecting her.

He wasn’t doing this because of her gender, but because he understood facing down demons, and how hard it could be. It’s why he put the finals here, in the ruins of KaibaCorp’s weapons development area and on top of the tower that had once been used to test his creation without his approval. This let him take back the holographic machine he’d created, as much as it let him remember that he was here to finally throw off Gozaburo’s legacy.

Kaiba wanted to continue that, or even just start it, by being with Katsuye. He had already failed when it came to helping her, and wanted to make it up to her, to make sure she realized he did care for her.

Katsuye is standing near the pod she’d been in, glaring over at Marik, as he and Yami reach the top, the two stepping but but Kaiba hurrying so he can reach her first, eve as Marik smirks and watches with obvious murderous intent in his eyes.

“I don’t care what you think, I--.”

He kisses her, expecting the slap for not asking again, but instead she relaxes as he finally breaks it off, one arm wrapped around her as he says, “If you lose, I will never forgive you.”

Kaiba watches as she looked up at him, searching his eyes before saying, “What are you scared of?”

He’s quiet, looking over at Marik and then to Yami before he leans in to whisper, “I know what Ra can do. If you’re not careful, if you don’t have ways to protect yourself from it’s attacks, it can defeat you in one go. Also...he’s doing something to stop anyone else from summoning it. You can’t take it and summon it, like what Mai Kujaku tried. You need to survive it, Katsuye. Please.”

He feels her stiffen against him at the news, then she slowly pulls back, looking up at him before he sees a brief flash of fear in her own eyes before she moves up to kiss him, holding onto his jacket as she did.

“I got this,” she told him after she broke it off, “I’m not about to let that bastard get me again, Seto. I promise.”

\--

As they reach the top, Layla looks over at the setup while Yami and Kaiba stand behind Katsuye, who was preparing her Deck as Marik smirked at her, darkness rising around him. He wasn’t going to allow Yami or her to stop him from calling up the Shadows to go after Katsuye, and he was going to do his best to destroy her where she stood.

Kaiba glared at her, as if annoyed by her presence, while Yami looked almost like he was trying to figure out how to protect Katsuye, Marik smirking as they arrived. “ **So, I get a second chance at giving someone to the Shadows. Good...they’re very hungry.** ”

“Don’t act so sure of yourself,” Katsuye said as Otogi arrived with Honda and the Chief, the trio standing to one side as Otogi said, “And now, let the finals begin!”


	3. The Winged Dragon of Ra (Jounouchi vs Marik)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first battle of the semi-finals begins, and everyone is worried over the outcome of the event.

She knows that Marik is going to summon the Shadows and pull her into a Shadow game, like he did with Mai. She knew that he was going to try to get a rise out of Yami and Kaiba, and he was only going to look at her like something to get thrown away, an insect that had annoyed him enough to get him to actually _try_ to use the Shadows to defeat her.

Katsuye also knew that some part of her wanted to face him because of what his ‘other’ self had done. He’d kidnapped Mokuba, invaded her mind and forced her into fighting Yugi and nearlying dying in some twisted way of tormenting Yami, and he was using Kaiba’s tournament to try to gain the God Cards for whatever reason. It all boiled down to her being here and being considered a ‘pain’ and a block between him and his goal of killing everyone...and between his ‘other’ self’s goal of killing Yami because of what that guy had said.

_Layla said that I could do this with Fulgara, and that means I have a chance at stopping this before it gets too far. I have a chance at changing the future that these two keep talking about, changing how things work. I’m going to take it._

She glared over at Marik as he chuckled, holding out his hands as the sky around them darkened. “ **So, I get a second chance at giving someone to the Shadows. Good...they’re very hungry.** ”

“Don’t act so sure of yourself,” she growled out as Otogi called for the Duel to begin, the two drawing their cards as she remembered what Kaiba had said.

_Ra has two main attacks - the first is the one that should’ve worked for Mai, but didn’t because the guy is a cheat. The next is the one I have to watch out for, and the one he’s probably going to try to unleash on me...one-hit kill. If I can survive that, I might have a chance to defeat him and win._

_Watch me, you two. I’m going to win this, and claim the Sun!_

\--

Layla has seen this type of determination before, and she watches with some degree of upset as her sphinx moves behind her, it and the griffin whining over what is happening as she does her best to shush them. Marik is drawing up a very dark part of the Shadows, parts that are near night and which are always malevolent, so having them distract her like this will not help their cause. They’re high enough up that before the darkness settled in, you could see the island and it’s own mechanical and industrial corpses littered around the island. She wonders what Kaiba intends to do with this place, after the Game is won. Possibly something constructive, but she can’t be sure. He’s unreadable right now, his worry for Katsuye and his anger at Yami for allowing it when they could have stopped and faced Marik prematurely outweighing his observations. Yami’s focus on Katsuye as well only means that Layla has to be careful - she doesn’t need them to focus on her at the moment.

_Katsuye has her chance to become the martyr and motivation they need to destroy this evil. After this, my sebah or his reborn priest will free my sebah, and I can end all of this. It’s a worthy thing to be sacrificed for._

It was things like this that only reminded her of how out-of-place she was in this world. She had forgotten so many little details, but she knew enough to know that her feelings and beliefs were not supposed to be part of a world like today. Layla needed her sebah to remember, say his name, and finally travel. She needed that so she could go with him, maybe even take the Items with her, so that Shadii will be forced to come and face his final punishment.

_He’s lived only a short time, but in that span, there’s been more mistakes and danger brought to the world than I have ever done while being myself. All of this could have been avoided if his clan hadn’t tried to get the Rod and Tauk as well, forcing them to pervert their already wrong beliefs._

She stopped the thought and focused on the battle as she saw Jounouchi draw her first card, playing Panther Warrior and a face-down card as Marik held out the Rod, summoning the Shadows with a manic smile as he watched her shift, looking afraid for a moment before he said, “ **What did prompt you to take me on, girl? Was it your friends? Was it that pathetic woman you tried to protect? Or do you simply think you can actually defeat me like you defeated my weaker self?** ” He laughed as he lowered his hand, the Shadows covering the field as she saw Yami’s forehead light up to attempt to use his powers to counteract it, stopping when he seemed to feel the Shadow’s violent nature and the reason for them being there. “ **Either way, I will hear you scream by the end of this.** ”

Katsuye glares him down, then smirked suddenly. “You’re all talk.”

“ **What?** ”

“Without your main card, you’re all talk. Mai would’ve kicked your ass, the way things were going, and I’m going to finish that job. You can only really do anything right if you’re in a Shadow Game anyway, so I’ll face you there, and beat you in one too!”

Layla almost smiled at her confidence, even as she saw Yami beginning to panic. _I made the right choice, then. Katsuye...you’ll be perfect for this._

\--

Katsuye is pretty sure both Seto and Yami are panicking, but the darkness around the raised platform hasn’t really let her see them. Marik keeps talking about what’s in store for them, and she’s getting really tired of this guy and his love of his own voice. She’s also sure Layla and Shizuka are there, and some part of her is upset that her sister has to see this, but she also knows that Shizuka can handle it. Her sister managed to handle the loss of her eyesight and dealing with their mother. Katsuye is sure she can handle this and anything else that comes up.

The line between herself and her monster makes her pause, Marik chuckling as he adds, “ **This is just like that Duel with the woman. You feel your monster’s pain and get the same wounds.** ”

“So you’re basically not at all able to figure out an original idea for _our_ Duel. I feel so special, knowing you can’t be bothered to put any thought into a Duel you were so ready to tell me will cause a lot of pain and suffering.”

Her attempt to deal with his one monster activates his trap card, but she’s not worried until it turns out to be that Visor thing that had caused Mai so many problems. The twisting pain, so similar to the pain she’d had trying to fight his control, steals her breath and puts  her own her knees before she can stop, trying to breath through it as Shizuka and Seto yell, Marik saying something about growing her hatred of him so she’ll ‘suffer more’.

The pain and thought gets her to suddenly laugh, stopping him as he frowns at her while she slowly raises to her feet, drawing in calming breaths despite the continued pain. “Get me to hate you more? The hell am I going to hate about a lost little kid?”

“ **What did you call me?** ”

“I,” she said, chuckling again despite the pain, “I was wrong. You’re nothing more than a stuck up brat of a child who’s always angry he doesn’t get his way. This is you thinking I’m some fly you can torment. So, _BRAT_ ,” she hissed out the words as she straightens, his anger turning to surprise as she tells him, “it’s _my turn_ , and I attack your monster with Rocket Warrior’s special move!”

The rocket hit and put a hole through the monster, Marik doubling over as if punched in the gut before the Panther Warrior cut his monster down, making him swing back from the pain and destruction of his monster. She waited as he laughed, as if something was funny, and she snorted. “Let me guess...you had a special ability monster? Oh how surprising.”

“ **You won’t be laughing after it’s special ability comes into play! Infernal Poet is placed in your Grave, and now…** ” The demonic hand shot up, taking one of her cards as he adds, “ **it will take an offering during each turn!** ”

She looked at him, not at all impressed as the hand disappeared with her card and she waits for whatever new insult he’s going to throw at her. She’s seen enough of his cards to know most of the monsters he has are Effect Monsters, and there’s every chance he’ll do something to take out more of her lifepoints with the trap and spell cards in his Deck. Right now, her only hope is luck.

 _He has a random card be discarded every turn, not to mention the added pain from the Visor_ , she thought quickly as he placed a card and monster on the field, _and he’s probably thinking I’m not worth the effort. I can’t let him win. I have to beat this guy. If I do that here and now, I could face either Yami or Seto in the finals. I’ll save Mai and that other guy. I_ have _to do this._

\--

Kaiba is getting more and more worried as Marik puts more trap cards on the field, doing his best to try to destroy Katsuye in the one turn. He doesn’t know what Marik is going to do, but he knows that he is not about to show Ra with himself and Yami here.

He does his best to calm down, but the oppressing darkness and feel of the Shadows only seems to amplify his fear right before Katsuye lets out another chuckle. “Time for my ‘trap’. I play my face-down card, Question!”

“ **W-what?** ”

“It’s a simple question, dumbass. The question is - what is the monster that was last discarded? What monster is on top of the graveyard? If we answer correct, the monster stays in the Grave...answer wrong, and it’s special-summoned to the field.”

Kaiba can’t help a smile. She _would_ use that card, and it’s one of the better ones for her Deck and for facing off against Decks like Marik’s, where his monsters always demand you throw away cards that he doesn’t know.

“So, you sacrificed a monster, meaning the monster on top of your Grave is Gil Garth!”

Marik looked frustrated as it didn’t reappear, and now said, “So, what’s the monster on top of _my_ grave?”

He saw Marik look panicked as she tells him, “You _don’t_ know, because it was put there, randomly, by your monster. So...since you can’t guess...I’ll have to show you. Come out, Jinzo!”

The Psycho Shocker appeared behind her, arms crossed, before it’s eyes lit up and she said, “You remember him and his special ability, right? The one that destroys all trap cards on the field?”

The two dangerous cards disappeared as Marik glared her down, Katsuye saying with confidence, “It’s _my_ turn.”

Kaiba smiled as she laid into Marik, defeating his Legendary Demon and doing an all-out attack with the rest of the monsters on the field. He could feel the excitement, but at the same time, the memory of what he’d seen, of what her fate might be, had him pause.

_Marik still has Ra...and this insult will not go unpunished, if he manages to survive this._

He did, and the obvious anger showing on his face caused all of Kaiba’s excitement to disappear, his fear of what would happen next replacing it as Marik drew his own card and Katsuye flinched at the pain that the Visor gave her while attached to her monster. Marik was going to do something to torment her further, and Kaiba wasn’t sure how long he could stand to watch it.

\--

Yami can feel Yugi’s panic rise the longer that the Lava Golem is on Jounouchi’s side of the field, trapping her and the more monsters that Marik brings out to torment her with. Yami can only do his best to try to calm his aibou, but even he is having a hard time doing that. The deep Shadows that Marik called are only amplifying the worry and fear for her safety, and he is beginning to panic himself. Marik seems set on using the Lava Golem to torment her, and he has to take that however he can. The way the Shadows are being used right now, and the extent of their darkness, means that summoning Ra into such a place would only result in something horrible for the one being attacked. He could already feel Osiris’ power rolling through his own Deck, and Obelisk’s own was moving, as influenced by Kaiba’s emotions as Osiris was by Yugi’s.

Seeing her look through her cards briefly before smiling allows both to calm down as she says, “I play Graceful Dice. It allows me to raise the attack of a monster by 500 times whatever number I throw...and your card only replicates low-attack cards, doesn’t it?” The Visors blew up the moment the dice landed on a 6, and then she said, “Now that those are gone, I sacrifice my Rocket Warrior, Panther Warrior, and the Lava Golem to summon Fulgara the Lightning!”

Yami blinked as he felt Yugi’s happiness, as well as seeing Kaiba’s surprise. He’s not at all surprised either - Fulgara and the male counterpart, Gilford, were both powerful cards. With that card, her power was easily almost as dangerous as a God’s.

“First things first, Fulgara, show him your ability! Lightning’s Thunder!” The two monsters, including the Visor, disappeared from view as Marik looked surprised, Jounouchi explaining, “No matter what their defense, Fulgara can take them out no problem.” She looked at him as if considering before finally saying, “Fulgara, attack!”

Marik laughed as she got close, activating his final trap card as she let out a curse, which turned into a wheeze as the attack ended and she drew in a breath, glaring at him as Marik finally said, “ **I see now. I know what this is now. This Duel cannot end until you have seen my God for yourself.** ”

“What are you talking about? What is this?”

Marik let out a laugh as he drew, Yami feeling the Shadows starting to swirl and become agitated, as if something was about to start, and--

- _The woman stood in front of them, arms stretched out, before something pierced her middle and there was a scream-_

\--

Kaiba was frozen as he watched Marik draw his card, his mind suddenly flashing to the screen and the words on the cards, the ones that caused him to have a headache even as he translated them perfectly.

_The First Power of Ra: Ra shall take power from three sacrifices...but even if the offerings are to Ra’s liking, the God shall only answer the one who speaks the sacred words._

Marik was laughing, the darkness starting to surround him.

_The Second Power of Ra: When the means of resurrection are granted to it, Ra shall come forth from the Earth, and those who face the God in war shall be incinerated by it’s flames._

“ **Behold, the power of Ra!** ”

_The Third Power of Ra…_

“ **Monster Reborn!** ”

_In an instant, Ra shall become a Phoenix, and the enemies of Ra shall return to the Earth…_

Ra rose above them, the darkness suddenly brightening enough that he could see Katsuye and how she stood, feet planted and looking up at it in awe and terror. He saw Marik in all of his triumph, his grin manic as he glanced at where Kaiba and Yami stood, the smile growing wider as he said, “ **Be happy, you two, that I’m giving you this preview now. But then again, this girl was always meant to be my prey.** ”

Kaiba felt his stomach drop as Marik continued, looking back at Katsuye. “ **I call on Ra’s Third Ability!** ” The monster began to change, turning into living fire as Kaiba tried to get himself to move, to go and help, do _something_ , but he was frozen like everyone else. He could only watch as it glared down at Katsuye, as the monster rose up behind Marik, at his beck and call, and as he told Katsuye, “ **Be prepared to witness God’s power. All I need do is pay 1000 Life Points, and it will incinerate all the monsters on the field. And with this being a Shadow Game...I wonder what you’ll look like, after feeling yourself burned that way. Even if you _have_ Life Points left, it won’t matter! Now, face the wrath of Ra, so that your part in this can be complete!**”

_NO! She’s not supposed to have this fate!_

The fire rose, and descended as everyone began to yell for her, Kaiba hearing Shizuka scream, Honda yelling for her, and all he could do is stand, frozen into inaction, as the fireball came down and they all heard Katsuye scream.

\--

_On the fresco in Domino, hidden, was a scene. A woman stood with a female warrior drenched in lightning, facing down a fiery benu bird and a dark man holding it’s chain._

\--

The smoke cleared on the field, and Jounouchi Katsuye swayed as she slowly stood. Everyone was quiet, Kaiba sucking in a breath and trying hard to not hope, Yami letting himself smile as Shizuka did so as well, the two already waiting for the final blow, for Katsuye to prove Marik wrong.

“Draw.” Katsuye looked at the card, and placed it on the disk, the shaky image appearing with a thin line starting to move towards her chest.

_\--_

_In the next hidden fresco, a tall knight in black stands as the woman falls forward, crumbling to ashes._

\--

“I play...Gearfred…”

The moment the line touched her chest, Katsuye fell forward, without any move to stop her descent, as Marik stood stunned and aware of the lack of control he now had over Ra, as the God Card attempted and failed to go after the one who’d faced down it’s flames and survived long enough for one last act of defiance. Her body hitting the floor was all that could be heard in the silence as the darkness disappeared from around them, allowing the sunlight and view to be seen again.

_\--_

_In the last fresco, the one before the historic battle, the Pharaoh and Priest mourn over the ashes of the woman as the darkness laughs at them and their loss, but the chain of the benu bird is now shattered and breaking, waiting for a new master._


	4. The Sky Dragon of Osiris (Yami vs. Kaiba)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami and Kaiba deal with the aftermath as they begin to Duel with their gods, and instead find themselves dealing with something else...

Yami is frozen as the others run to Jounouchi’s side, the Shadows clearing as the others raced over to check on the fallen Jounouchi. He sees Kaiba manage to move and rush over, turning Jounouchi over slowly as Yami tries to get his mind around this, tried hard to move or do _something_. This is worse than when Pegasus had attacked and nearly destroyed Yugi’s soul. The remains of the Shadows show only bits of Jounouchi’s once-bright soul, now charred by Ra’s attack. He saw her sister kneeling, crying as Honda yelled at her, demanding she wake up and stop acting like an idiot, as Otogi stood by his side, his eyes mournful but containing a ton of emotions that he couldn’t identify over his own whirling emotions.

_No...Jounouchi…_

**_Katsuye...Katsuye!_** Yugi was screaming inside of their shared mind, his grief almost overpowering. Yugi now having more awareness, being his partner over simply his vessel, meant that he was now witness to more and more of the things going on, see more of what the threat from the Shadows truly was, instead of the short bits that he’d seen while fighting Pegasus. Even then, with the threat of losing and being put into a card, as Kaiba and Mokuba had been, there had been the hope that Pegasus would possibly let them live, or at least leave the island.

Marik was not about to let them live, and had already caused Jounouchi to suffer. Yami and Yugi had thought that allowing them to Duel, allowing her the chance to defeat Marik on her own, would prove her ability. He’d had every faith in her to defeat him, and seeing her manage to summon Fulgara, to hold herself together until Ra had been summoned.

**_NO! Katsuye, wake up! Wake up! Yami please...please wake her up. Please…_ **

His shock stopped him from saying anything as medics arrived, Kaiba and Shizuka following them out as Marik laughed, as if the near-defeat at her hands had been nothing. “ **She’s dead. Her soul was burned for Ra and given to the Shadows! Who will be next, I wonder? Who--?** ”

He didn’t manage to get further, Layla moving quickly and making him take a step back in shock of her getting so close, so quickly.

“She was right,” Layla said quietly at the still-surprised Marik, not backing down from where she stood, “You _are_ all talk, even with your card. And no matter how scary Ra really is, she showed that. So, she was right, and the real winner in the end, wasn’t she? And that just makes you all the more willing to lash out and call her names...little boy.”

Marik glared at her before stalking away, Yami still rooted to the spot where Jounouchi had fallen before a hand slowly rested on his shoulder. He didn’t bother to look up as Layla said, “We need to go and check on her. There’s an hour until the next Duel.”

**_Yami...please…_ **

He moved mechanically, following Layla as they headed back to the ship. He couldn’t quite make it in, seeing Ishizu attempting to comfort Shizuka as she cried over Jounouchi’s body felt like too much. He was almost grateful that Kaiba wasn’t there as Honda sat by her side, Anzu looking lost and upset over this all.

He stood outside, slowly taking off the Duel Disk he’d been wearing and putting his arm against the wall, leaning forward to put his forehead against his arm. _My fault...all of this…I wanted this to regain my memories and my agency, but also…_

Yami had wanted to see Jounouchi stand on her own, to declare herself a victor in their battle instead of forever bowing out to him or Yugi, or being the continued third and overshadowed by Kaiba and himself. She’d given over the Red Eyes because of the rules, had said she would stand on her own, and he’d been happy to hear it. That she wanted to Duel him, wanted to become friends in that way as well as share the experience of being able to find their own way in this world, had made him all the more upset when Marik first attacked her, and now she was...she…

_What’s the point of Dueling? I wanted to Duel her, to see how far she’d come and to know that we had at least that much in common. That she was no longer angry at me for all that had happened before this. But now...now…_

All he had was his rage at Marik for what he’d done, for the damage he’d done, and for all the pain he’d caused Jounouchi simply because she was his friend, because she was someone important to his aibou and to him. He could defeat Marik, could regain his autonomy and memories, and then...then what? Could he really face this all when he knew that it had resulted in so much pain and death?

_What’s the point of it all, if this is the result? Why should I keep going?_

**_Mou hitori no boku...Yami…_ **

_I can’t simply keep going to defeat Marik. After I have done that, what is left? Even if I gain the ability to be apart from you, to really hold you...I can’t face the fact that Jounouchi was hurt because of her link to us. That I failed to recognize the danger that Kaiba saw so quickly._

**_But...if we’d gone up against Marik now...could we have beaten him?_ **

He doesn’t know. He hates that he doesn’t know, and he can’t answer for Kaiba either, though he thinks that maybe, Kaiba might have some way to defeat Ra, or at least make it stall. However, Yami is certain that it will take both of the God Cards the two have between them to stand up to Marik and give either of them a chance to defeat him. Even so, even if he manages to defeat and destroy Marik, what will happen to his other self?

 _Why should I care? That side hurt Jounouchi as badly, put her in that darkness and pain, and now this side has tormented her just for facing him in battle. Why should I even_ think _of saving him?_

His aibou was silent, worrying Yami as he tries to pull himself together. They have to do this to defeat Marik and stop him from continuing, stop more people from being so badly hurt, but he feels weighed down by the loss as well. He has to face Kaiba when his rival has just lost someone he was trying to protect. They couldn’t back down from this. No matter what, they couldn’t stop. They had to continue.

 ** _I…_** , Yugi was quiet, before Yami felt his determination, **_We have to defeat Marik, just like we had to defeat Pegasus. We...can we heal her, afterwards, right? Will that...help?_**

He didn’t know. He had to hope that knowing his past, knowing more of how to control the Shadows, would allow him at least to save them all. As it was, there was a better chance of healing her after they had the three cards and Yami had control over his destiny, than waiting to try now. Marik’s use of the darker Shadows meant that Yami couldn’t always protect everyone, and he was just as often tired out from doing his best to keep them sane and defend against Marik’s power and attempts to sacrifice them to the Shadows.

Yami steeled himself, straightening as he did. He had to win. He had to face Kaiba and _win_ , so through this, he could be his own person, hold Yugi himself, and then, if his ability was strong enough, save all the others.

\--

Kaiba knows he’s still in shock. He knows he needs to try to focus, to try to move, but…

_I was supposed to change this. I was supposed to stop this from happening._

Shizuka is still crying next to him, holding Katsuye’s hand as the monitor put out the weak but steady tone of her heartbeat, the oxygen mask the only way she was really breathing. He can’t quite understand how he’s still standing, how he can face something like this again without collapsing.

_No...no, I can’t lose her like this. I can’t...not like this._

“Kaiba,” Yami’s voice makes him straighten, though he doesn’t take his eyes off Katsuye until Yami continues, “You have thirty minutes before our Duel begins. I’ll be waiting.”

He doesn’t realize he’s turned and headed out the door to catch up to Yami until he has him against the wall, Layla Naunet there with Anzu as the two try to talk them down, Kaiba’s grip on Yami’s jacket making him realize how much he’s shaking. He’s more amazed that Yami’s unapologetic, or that Yugi isn’t even showing his face, and somehow, that makes him even angrier.

“Disqualifying yourself isn’t going to help,” Yami told him, his eyes serious and not at all afraid - if anything, they only seem to rival Kaiba in his anger. “Neither is acting like this. We have to deal with Marik, and defeat him. We won’t have another chance.”

“Shut up,” he growled out, hands tightening as he resisted the urge to shake Yami until Yugi came out and at least talk sense, or show some sort of emotion. _Anything_ besides having to hear him just demand a Duel so they could decide which one of them gets to go after Marik first. He doesn’t want to listen to calls for a Duel that was prophesied at the same time Katsuye’s death had been laid down and set in stone. He can’t accept that Yugi is allowing Yami to talk like that. He’s not going to accept that Yami has given up and isn’t even going to _try_ to save her.

“You haven’t done anything to stop him. For all this talk about you having the strongest Item, for all they keep appearing and hurting all those around you for having that damned Puzzle around your neck, you haven’t done _anything_.”

“Kaiba, you can’t think…” Anzu started, but Yami cut her off with a look, apparently one that showed he could handle it.

Kaiba doubted that. Yami glared at him, his dark purple eyes devoid of the same seething emotions that were rolling in Kaiba right now. Katsuye was...she was...and he _dared_ tell him when their next Duel was?

“I have enough control over the Shadows to do certain things, but that power isn’t absolute,” Yami told him, a hand going to Kaiba’s arm, “I might be able to do something if I remember.”

“ _Might_ isn’t good enough,” Kaiba growled out, finally releasing Yami as a few others started to come out. Mokuba might even dare to come out, and Kaiba didn’t want his little brother to see him like this, or know what had happened to Katsuye. “Because of what you did, she faced him again. I don’t care what part of her pride had to face that madman, it’s _your_ fault she is in that state, and I will not forgive you for your part in this.”

Yami is quiet a long moment before he asks, “Are you going to give me Obelisk then, and sit here waiting for a miracle?”

Kaiba is ready to hit him as Yami waits, apparently waiting for the same thing.

“I am going to deal with Marik. But if either of us had gone up against him and lost, he would have had two Gods to deal with. If it had been me going up against him, could you have just defeated Jounouchi and moved on?”

Kaiba isn’t going to answer that.

“Or do you think it would have been better for her to witness _you_ getting hit by Ra?”

Kaiba feels his hands curl into tight fists and does his best to resist the urge to hit Yami, to disqualify himself and just _let_ him face Marik.

Only…

_I am going to deal with Marik…_

Marik, who’s supposed ‘good side’ had caused his sister to come to a stranger, to Kaiba, in order to dismantle that network. Marik, who had men that attacked Katsuye _twice_ in this tournament and who threw in unprepared Duelists before defeating them. Marik, who _cheated_ at every turn.

Who’d taken Katsuye’s mind and turned her into a puppet, and who’d nearly killed her in some sick game in order to push as much pain and suffering as he could on Yami, simply because of that Item.

And his darker side, who nearly killed Kujaku Mai, who probably would have killed the mysterious man that had masqueraded as him for whatever purpose, and who showed no love to his sister. Who had so easily decided to take on his father’s shadow and become darkness instead of moving past that, into the light.

Who had gleefully called out that Katsuye was dead while Kaiba could do nothing to stop it.

“You’re wrong,” he finally ground out, getting Yami to look at him with his serious, emotionless eyes. “ _I’m_ taking down Marik.”

\--

No one comes with them to watch the Duel. Marik might be around, but Kaiba doesn’t really care at the moment. He knows the powers that Obelisk and Osiris have, and as such there is no reason for him to be here. Mokuba was still on the ship - hopefully protected by the others there.

It only came down to them. Just like that damned stone had shown.

He had planned on making up a coliseum for the two of of them to Duel in - he was certain from the start that Yami would fight him. But he wasn’t about to call it up. If he couldn’t have Mokuba and Katsuye there because of the madman that Yami had allowed to run free, he wasn’t about to feel joy or pride in his creations while dealing with Yami and Yugi.

_I swore I would not let him touch her, and because of you, she…_

_I will defeat both of you, and be done with the Shadows and their magic. All they have done is ruin the things I cared for, and brought out the worse in everything._

_I will get the three God Cards, the things that will aid you in gaining power...and even if it’s your last act, you_ will _bring her back._

By his second turn, Kaiba has Obelisk in his hand, his desire to end the game and finish off Marik seeming to make it so his cards are just jumping readily into his hand. Yami is taking it slower, as if dragging the Duel out is _worth_ the possible ramifications.

Mai and Katsuye’s lives, the lives of that white-haired boy and the nameless man who’d kept Marik’s sadistic side at bay...all of them were riding on these next two Duels. They didn’t have time to take the Duel slowly.

Kaiba is quick to try to summon Obelisk, calling over Yami’s two monsters before regaining control of his other one, just as Lightforce Sword falls down from above, spearing Obelisk for three turns.

“Don’t be so hasty, Kaiba.”

“Don’t treat this like some Duel for pride, Yami,” he growled back, “I’m not going to wait around while you act as if the others won’t die without us dealing with that scum.”

“And you act like rushing forward is going to do _anything_ besides get you to underestimate things,” Yami pointed out, glaring at him. “I played this through, trying to rush against Pegasus for what he did - for taking the souls of so many to force us into that Duel. Don’t make that same mistake, Kaiba.”

“This is nothing _like_ Pegasus,” Kaiba growled out as he allowed his turn to end. “There was no hurry to save anyone, no one was dying. Even if he only kept my body as a puppet, the same evil had not been perpetrated as here.”

Yami snorted as he drew his new card while the monsters returned to their sides, “Believe that all you want, but hurrying on like that will not help you, not when the Shadows are the way they are.”

Kaiba glared even more as he pulled out his next card, chaffing under the break that he had to take because of Obelisk being trapped by the sword. He understood the pain, of being pinned down without any way to change things, but the way Yami was playing…

_He doesn’t have Osiris._

Getting Osiris would just as quickly end things, especially if he managed to summon the XYZ cannon. He has the components, and knows it will be useful in this game…but he needs to get Osiris out before he can move forward.

_Katsuye…I’ll do all I can to save you._

He’d forgotten, how hard it was to deal with Yami. Kaiba also refused to believe that Yugi was condoning this Duel when Katsuye was…she was…

Kaiba pulled himself back and glared at Yami as he played Exchange, taking back Osiris the minute after Kaiba had gotten it, even though he didn’t seem particularly like gloating. Kaiba had grabbed a possibly damaging Magic Card, and would have to do his best to work through this. He had two more turns before he could regain Obelisk, and he had to do his best to keep Yami from summoning Osiris to it’s full extent.

The two had seen each other’s God Cards at work and knew enough about them to match each other blow-for-blow. The only question now would be who got the card summoned first, and who utilized it best.

He’s not surprised that Yami is only working to defend himself - even with two or so monsters on the field, none are powerful enough to stand up to the XY-Cannon, let alone the XYZ-Dragon Cannon when it was finally summoned.

_I only need two more turns, and I’ll managed to summon Obelisk. I have to do this. I have to finish this for once._

_I have to save her._

\--

Yami doesn’t like how Kaiba’s rush to save Jounouchi has him behaving so recklessly, or not listening to what he has to say. At the same time, he knows that the way he’s handling things is only feeding Kaiba’s anger. He understands that as much as he understands why he has to win this fight, why he has to deal with Marik, and why he needs to do his best to _show_ Kaiba that, rather than just tell him.

 _This isn’t just about me knowing myself,_ he thinks as he summons Osiris, a fitting God for him, just as Obelisk was a fitting God for Kaiba, _This is about saving all of them. About knowing myself well enough that I can command the Shadows and finally, fully, save the ones we care about._

Just as all of the Gods fit with their owners...save Ra. Ra fit best with Jounouchi, with her fiery personality and her bright soul, and he was not going to let Marik win and take that all away from them.

The problem now was that the game was now a game of chicken - whoever gave up and blinked first was the one who lost. He had to get rid of Kaiba’s sacrifices, but the face-down card could easily be the one that he’d given over to Kaiba, and that would just as easily deal a blow to his ability to give Osiris the power required for this fight. As it is, he’s taken a gamble, fighting when Osiris is low enough to be taken out by a high-powered card.

 ** _We need to take that risk_** , Yugi reminds him gently, from where he’s watching the fight and encouraging him, **_We need to do this. I wish there was another way, but…_**

Kaiba and Yami are set on saving everyone. The reason for that in their minds is Jounouchi and her defeat, the one that nearly ended in her triumph and that has set the stage for them to defeat Marik. He isn’t going to let that go to waste, not when he can finally have his memories and pull everyone back from whatever darkness they’ve been thrown into. He isn’t going to let Kaiba push so hard through their fight, as he had wanted to do against Mai in order to get to Pegasus. He can tell that Yugi feels the same way – that the pain and anger and hurt over seeing what happened to Jounouchi has only lead him to allowing Yami so much control. He trust Yami to make the best choices, and to hopefully show Kaiba what the best way forward without hurting his pride or his hope too much.

_We can save her. I need him to see that._

The moment Obelisk is released, Kaiba sacrifices his three monsters to summon the towering card, his anger at Yami and Marik, his hurt over what happened to Katsuye, written all over the gathering Shadows as Obelisk stands before them, Osiris roaring back at the other monster as Kaiba says, “And you only have two cards in your hand.”

“You’re right,” Yami tells him before saying, “but Osiris has a special ability.”

Kaiba placed a face-down card and ended his turn, waiting for Yami’s to end. He could see the strategy in it - attacking would only mean that both Osiris and Obelisk were wiped from the field this turn.

Yami played his turn out without attacking, and the moment Obelisk went to strike Osiris, he played Pot of Greed, with Kaiba countering with the Life Shaver that he’d taken before. Instead of one overcoming the other, the two monstrous Gods were back to being the same as far as attacks were concerned. It was now a battle of wills between the two as--

\-- _the palace was in ruins, and he growled in frustration as the one who had attacked turned towards them, the priest’s grief only drawing it towards them._

_“Seth, we need to hurry! We’re the only ones left!” he ground out, the power of the Shadows coming towards them in an attempt to hide them or to call their protector to them. Where was she?_

_Seth was silent a moment longer, and he started to turn to him when an attack against the shield made him turn back, looking back to the one who’d betrayed them. His power collected and shot out as the man chuckled, blood still dripping from his hands as he chuckled, glaring at him before saying, “I’ll be taking the Pendant, Pharaoh.”_

_“Leave here, Akhunaden. You will not gain the Pendant or the Rod.”_

_“Won’t I? I have already managed to destroy your palace, and now the only thing you have left is that pitiful priest and his dead woman. Your protectors are gone, even the Red Lady has fallen to me. You are alone.”_

_A sudden roar came from one side, and he only had enough time to go back to try to help Seth before the chimera was swatted away, hitting the wall hard as the dark being came after him again and his pushed all of his power into protecting himself and Seth, protecting the last of--_

_The blow hit his side just as Seth suddenly turned, his clothing stained in the blood of his love, and his power joining with the shield being held up as Akhunaden let out a scream, the final blow landing as two other monsters drove him into the ground and more of the power from the other Items began to resonate, calling back their owners from the brink of death as he pushed his own power outwards. He wasn’t going to let them die. Not like Mahaad had died, or the other ones. He heard a familiar voice yell for him before he fell down, looking to see the blood on the Pendant beginning to cause it to break and shatter, to cut into it and create odd shapes._

_“Stop! I didn’t want this!”_

_“You...my friend, please...so much needs to be rebuilt.”_

_“And you are the one to do it! I cannot...I won’t be able…”_

_“You can. I know--” he felt so odd, like he was breaking apart, and smiled back at the others he could barely see, at a woman running towards him and shouting something. “Take care of her. She needs to protect her cubs.”_

_“My sebah, NO!” the woman’s voice sounded so familiar…_

Yami blinks as he stands before a fresco, Yugi drawing in a breath and shaking next to him as Kaiba looks at it, his eyes filled with anger and pain. The fresco shows Jounouchi’s fall, the breaking of the links that hold Ra to Marik, but at the same time, he can’t help but feel anger at it.

“I was going to change this fate,” Kaiba said, “and you sent her to face that thing.”

“You don’t think that I’m not upset over what happened?” Yami asked, “Because I believed that she could do what she said she could, because I believed she might win? Her...what happened to her is on me as well, Kaiba. I am doing this so that one of us will have a chance, so that--.”

They pause as the two turn. Carvings, like in a tomb, stretch out before them as they face one where another man is kneeling, this time before a pillar, as someone works to protect him. In the next scene, the man is dead, and the one who’d been mourning is now working to defeat the monster.

“I saw this. When I fought Ishizu…” Kaiba muttered, looking away. “I saw...I saw Katsuye fall then. I couldn’t allow it to happen.”

Both Yami and Yugi are silent before Yugi says, “There’s no fresco of who will fight Marik.”

“No,” Yami told him.

“Then...that means no matter who goes forward, the other will give them the ability to defeat him. No matter which one of you wins here...Marik will have to face you, and answer for what he did.”

Kaiba and Yami look at him as Yugi says, “I know I’m right. Before, one of you lost because the other was unable to see the truth. This time, you’re both fighting for the same person, both going to work to _save_ the same people. So no matter what happens, you’ll save them all. You’ll save Katsuye and the others. I know it. I know that, whoever wins here, will have the power of the two Gods to use against Marik.”

Kaiba is silent before he adds, “There is one other card that could work as well. I have both in my Deck.” He looks back at Yami. “We’ll do this right, then. Magician against Dragon, like always. If what Yugi says is right, whoever wins is the one that will defeat Marik, and stop this new darkness.”

Yami managed a smile. “Very well. Fighting with Gods was too stressful anyway.”


	5. The Battle of Evermore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between Yami and Kaiba continues, as they work to see who will fight Marik in the final battle.

The explosion from the tower was huge, and Ishizu looked out before smiling a bit, reaching to hold Rishid’s still hand. “It’s almost time. They’re going to save Marik soon. Just wait, Rishid...we’ll be back together again, and be a family again.”

“I doubt that,” a familiar voice said, causing her to stiffen, “the Pharaoh and the Priest will not allow the sinner that your brother is to remain alive after what he did to that sacrificed girl. He will die by their hands, and they will take the Rod from him. Then, the ceremony shall begin.”

A deep, dark growl made the man stop, turning as he held the Scales out, the dark chimera circling as Naunet said, “You are not gifted with the Tauk, nor are you any good at foreseeing the consequences of your actions. But you have a point. Unless that child shows himself as worthy of redemption, neither one will save him from a terrible fate.”

Ishizu stood, her hand still holding Rishid’s as she told the two, “Enough! My family are no longer pawns in your games! I and Rishid swore to save him, and no matter what you say, no matter what happens, we will do that.”

Layla glanced at her and raised her eyebrows in amazement. “Your brother, without any influence of his darker self, attacked a friend of the Pharaoh and the soon-to-be lover of the Priest. He attacked multiple others and threatened the lives of many. I doubt they will be so lenient as to allow him to live, even after the Pharaoh regains his memories. I doubt he enjoys people who call up the Shadows as your brother did, or as the one before him had.”

Ishizu didn’t back down, glaring at the two as Layla let out a breath and glanced over at Shadi. “Out, then. It’s not our place to question someone who so obviously is within her right to believe whatever she wants about the future, or one who can so easily see it as well.”

Shadi sent Ishizu a glare before disappearing, Layla disappearing shortly afterwards as Ishizu waited a moment longer, to be sure their power wasn’t still there, before letting out a breath and deflating, her hand gripping Rishid’s own as tightly as she could.

“wake up,” she pleaded with him, “please. help me prove them wrong.”

\--

Kaiba winced as he stood, noting how tired Yami looked, enough that bits of Yugi’s presence was creeping in. Their Life Points were still the same, and Kaiba quickly placed a face-down card before ending his turn. Even with both Gods in the grave and that odd...vision? memory?...to go back on, he knew that they never should have tried fighting God against God. He’d gone for that because of his wish to end things quickly, to do his best to attack and defeat Marik and end all of this, but now…

_Before, it was one of us mourning, and that meant that my past self wasn’t there when he should have been._

_Now...I am my own person. We can both defeat Marik, and work to save those who have been put under that torture he so enjoyed._

His trap card works well to allow him to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon, the monster roaring as he attacked the defensive monster that Yami had, waiting as Yami drew before he played the card that set up the battlefield again.

The Dark Magician stood before Kaiba, arms crossed and normally expressionless eyes now burning with anger as the Blue Eyes roared at it, tail curled protectively around Kaiba as the Dark Magician stood in front of Yami, as if to shield him from any attack.

The problem with Yugi and Yami, despite how well they put their Deck together...was that they _kept_ that Deck. Though he’d created a Deck to allow him to summon Obelisk, he’d also made it so that the fall-back would be the Blue Eyes and it’s Ultimate Dragon form. Decks like Yugi and  
Yami’s had the disadvantage of taking a bit longer to really work itself to it’s full potential, and with the cards that Kaiba has, he can easily summon the Ultimate Dragon, if not simply summon all three easily to defeat Yami and take on Marik.

_I have no problem allowing Yami to remember if it means Katsuye is returned. I have no problem giving them at least happiness after Yami deals with the problems that his presence has created._

He knows Yami’s Deck and favored cards too well to allow him to face down the Blue Eyes without a fight, and he’ll do all he can to show Yami the full power of his Deck, of the one he built just before the four of them went to that damned fate.

Kaiba takes in a breath as he glares over at Yami, having an idea of what he had, of what he was going to do.

“There is no light for those who are shackled to the past,” Kaiba told him, remembering how hard he’d worked to change himself, to change his company, and all that he’d had to go through before he realized that he didn’t have to cling to the past and that he could love and care for Katsuye in a way he hadn’t before, in a way that he’d only just started to work on when she was ripped away from him.

So he played the card that allowed him to get the Lord of D, protecting the Blue Eyes, and knowing at least one of those cards would give more power to the Magician, he didn’t attack but waited.

_Your Deck was created by two people, but it’s not changed at all. It’s the same Deck, the same one that I faced before, and that I saw work during the time we had to try and get Katsuye and Mokuba back. I know the way you think and what you’ll do, Yami and Yugi. And because of that, I will face down Marik._

\--

Yami draws in a breath when he sees the card that Kaiba plays, trying to figure out what to do. Kaiba knows his Deck too well, and right now he doesn’t have the card he might need to defeat him.

_We do!_

**_Yugi?_ **

_Look at our hand!_

As the three Blue Eyes appear, he looks down and sees what Yugi is talking about. There’s no guarantee that this will work, but…he has to try. There is no point in _not_ trying.

The Red Eyes appears as the three Blue Eyes suddenly stop their attack, Kaiba’s eyes wide as he looked at the dark dragon that Katsuye had won and that had become so connected to her. He could still feel some of the power that had woven around them, and he knew that with the last summon, he has a way to stop Kaiba and turn the Duel around.

He also knows that Kaiba’s call for an attack, right as the Red Eyes was summoned, cannot be stopped either, and the look of horror on his face only stops when Yami takes out the Lord of D on his side and the spells he had ready now come into play, taking out one Blue Eyes as the Magnet Warrior is destroyed by the last attacking Dragon.

Kaiba looks at that, then back at Yami, his anger as well as his sadness evident before he says, “I have two cards that can defeat Marik. The God Card…and one other that will be instrumental in defeating him and if he pulls out Ra. Those are my _two_ antes.”

Yami blinked at that, then looked up at the Red Eyes before he understands.

**_I promised Jounouchi we would Duel._ **

_Kaiba will give her back that card when she wakes up. That doesn’t stop you two from Dueling. Agree to it._

**_Yugi…_ **

_Please, mou hitori no boku. No matter what else happens, let Kaiba hold Katsuye’s card, her heart, with him._

“It’s only fair that I give up two cards as well…two that I know will aid you. The other one may not be instrumental, but it will guide you.”

Kaiba drew in a breath, looking at the Red Eyes as if he was looking at Jounouchi, then said, “I play two face-down cards. Your move.”

\--

Katsuye had been telling him, almost constantly, that it was sheer luck when you won a Duel. It wasn’t a skill, or some special ability, or even your determination to win something that meant you won.

It all came down to dumb luck, to statistics, but mostly to dumb luck.

You can have every strategy down for your Deck, but what it comes down to is what you know and what you have. He has enough to protect and fuse his monsters into the Ultimate Dragon. Even with Yami’s Dark Paladin in play, gaining power from the Red Eyes and his Ultimate Dragon, there is every chance one of the face-down cards will turn the tide.

So when he pulls out the three cards he needs, the final one he puts down is the one he knows will ultimately work if Yami plays one specific card, which Kaiba had no doubt he either pulled out or has already in his hand. This whole battle, this final assault, has to be well-timed, and both of them know it. The moment Kaiba attacks, Yami has to throw in his cards and hope that Kaiba has nothing to counter with.

The moment this attack is done, one of them will face down Marik.

Kaiba attacks with his fused Dragon, silently apologizing to Katsuye as he did and Yami began to call up his spell cards. The first started to raise the Dark Paladin’s attack, but not by enough.

“I cast De-Fuse!”

“I counter,” Kaiba said, “with De-Spell!”

Yami drew in a breath, then smiled as the attack hit, blasting away his monsters and ending the fight.

It was over. Kaiba had won, and now had the chance to defeat Marik and end all of this.

\--

Layla smiled as she saw the announcement, glancing at her _swt_ before saying, “Looks like it’s almost time to begin. Well done, my sebah. Sometimes, you need to realize that you can direct, instead of fighting every danger that comes up.”

\--

Yami is not upset over the loss, oddly enough. He feels like allowing Kaiba this, when Marik had been his prey all the time, is right. He also knows that Kaiba wants to defeat him, in the hopes of showing that he could protect Katsuye or even wake her up.

Kaiba’s motivation wasn’t the title now, it was the ones he cared for and the ones he wanted to protect. Not just Mokuba, but Yami feels that it’s everyone as well.

He walks up to Kaiba, smiling as he pulls out the two cards, Osiris and the Red Eyes, before handing them over. Kaiba takes them easily, Yami letting out a breath as he says, “I trust your judgment about Marik, about what you can do. But be warned - he is going to pull out dark Shadows, for the Duel against you. I can possibly face up against him in this, but without Osiris and Obelisk…”

“I know,” he says, “not to mention this is the only chance we have to defeat him.” He knew that as well. Whatever else, Marik’s power was starting to have a bad effect on everything. The people now in the infirmary on the ship showed that.

He glanced back as he heard something click, and frowned before touching his communicator, on the lapel of his collar. “What’s going on, Itonokogiri?” When he was met with silence, he shifted the pressure a bit, saying, “Otogi.”

“ _Here,_ ” Otogi spoke, the muffled voice of Honda in the background, “ _there’s something going on, Kaiba. I think…_ ” he curses, “ _damnit, he’s on his way up!_ ”

“Marik? What happened to the others?”

“ _Ren and Hinagata managed to close off the ship and a few other things. We’re safe, Mokuba and the others are safe, but Marik is coming after you!_ ”

Cursing and other points in the background got Otogi to let out his own curse as well.

“ _He has Itonokogiri’s code to get up there. And the referee is...not coming._ ”

Yami paled as Kaiba said, “Stay safe. If you have the chance, get to the ship. If things get bad, take off to the mainland.”

“ _You’re not serious!_ ”

“Marik is after us, as owner of God Cards. We should have prepared for this play when he started upping the ante for his games. I will _not_ endanger anyone else in this. Get out of here if you can, and initiate the protocol to destroy the island.”

Yami froze, looking at him, as Kaiba waited for confirmation.

“ _We got it,_ ” Honda’s voice rang over the connection, “ _take down that bastard._ ”

“It’s all luck, but I will do my best,” Kaiba said, letting go to close the connection as the sound of someone coming up began to ring through the open door, the sky above them darkening at approaching clouds that had not been there before.

“The final protocol,” Yami said, “will do what?”

“As much as making this new tower was to prove myself over Gozaburo’s legacy, the secondary purpose was to finish demolition of the island as well. There is little to no use for it, unless I figured out how to turn it all back to research. Plus...some of what I found has made me worried that Gozaburo left something here that I am not about to unleash on the world.”

Yami is silent before he chuckles. “This seems to be a repeat of the past...only I think this time, we will be able to deal with whatever is coming together, and not apart.”

“Those people were not us,” Kaiba growled out, “no matter what anyone might say, you were not that person we saw, just as that other only looked like me. We will deal with this our own way.”

Yami is silent but nods anyway as they turn back to look at the door as Marik walks out. His hands are bloody, with blood coating and dripping in small rivlet down the Millennium Rod, and Kaiba hears Yami draw in a breath of anger or frustration. The odd Eye, the one that normally glowed on Yami’s forehead, was bulging as if metal had been placed underneath Marik’s forehead, veins popping everywhere, and his eyes wide and mad, with hardly any of the iris or pupil showing, his eyes instead nearly white as he grinned, the act seeming to nearly split his face in half.

_In only a short while, he’d turned into something so twisted…_

“ ** _Well, well...time for the final battle to begin._** ”


	6. The Giant Soldier of Obelisk (Kaiba vs Marik)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final Duel of Battle City, as Kaiba faces down Marik. Meanwhile, Rishid wakes up.

Part 6: The Giant Soldier of Obelisk (Kaiba vs Marik)

Kaiba tells himself that Marik isn’t terrifying - Gozaburo, who took away so much from Kaiba and always painted it as ‘parenting’, as some ‘test’ to prove that he and Mokuba shouldn’t be thrown back into the orphanage...he was terrifying. Yami, during the Death-T match, was terrifying in how little he cared for Kaiba’s decision or psyche at that moment. Changing the company, and facing all of those he had to push against, facing down the Big Five before their defection to Pegasus, or all the investors and everyone else who had a stake in the company, when it went from selling weapons and programs for weapons to selling toys and creating theme parks...that was terrifying.

Marik was a very close second to all those, however, with that knowledge that the blood on his hands and drying on the Rod came from one of Kaiba’s men, that if he went free from here, the damage he would cause while the insane manifestation of a brutalized child’s id run rampant.

_All those on the ship, all those still on the tower...their lives are in my hands now._

“ ** _So, who do I face now? Who will be the final sacrifice to the Shadows?_** ”

Kaiba and Yami glared at Marik as he chuckled darkly, the darkness from his powers starting to flow around them.

The moment he said it, he would be in another Shadow Game, one that Yami couldn’t save him from.

_But in this one, I go in knowing the danger...against Yami those first two times, my pride and interest stopped me. Against Pegasus, my determination to save my brother on my own, to do everything on my own, stalled me._

_This time...I have the Gods that represent myself and Yami. I have my own cards that have served me well._

_And I have Katsuye’s card._

“I won the last part of the semi-finals,” Kaiba said, “so I’m your opponent.”

Marik looked at him, the smile faltering as some sort of illusion seemed to pull part of his face upward, the grin returning. “ ** _Kaiba...really? I thought the priest was done protecting the Pharaoh._** ”

“I’m doing this for my own reasons, Marik,” he growled out, glaring at the boy that had attempted to torment Kujaku and Katsuye ( _in my tournament, during my tournament he did his best to push the rules as far as he could and sent in his minions to torment others_ ) and who is the younger brother gone wrong to an older sister, now probably worrying in the ship with that other one, the one who put his life on the line for him as well, hiding in this man’s shadow for so long.

“ ** _So you say, Kaiba. But do you really think you have a chance against me?_** ”

“I have every chance against you,” he told the demented being, getting it to frown, “it’s all a matter of luck and skill.”

Marik laughed at that, the darkness spreading around them and darkening the afternoon sky so it was nearly black, clouds rolling around them as Kaiba walked up, stepping onto the platform and facing Marik fully as he put his Deck into the Duel Disk, feeling the power that the Shadows were drawing forth. He felt the Blue Eyes, all three, roaring for Marik’s blood, just as the two Gods glared down the man who had dared to try to bind the Sun, their kin.

And then, slowly wrapping around him like a hug from behind, was the Red Eyes...Katsuye…

_It takes luck and skill to win a Duel. No matter how she plays, it’s not just about the strategy you have for your best cards. It takes the luck of having them and the right circumstances, and not having someone play a card that can throw off everything._

His luck, he’d gotten the De-Spell card, to counter the De-Fuse that Yami used. His luck now, with this Deck, had gotten him this far. He was going to do what Katsuye had not been able to do, after that maneuver by Marik and when she _should_ have done it. In any other game, she should have _won_...and every card, even Marik’s own, knows that.

“ **Playing for your dead girlfriend? Her soul is dust, destroyed by Ra when she was stupid enough to face me. Or are you trying to join her?** ” Marik asked, licking some of the drying blood off the rod as the Shadows darkened around them.

_Dark Shadows...like that vision from before._

“ **Aren’t so keen on answering me _now_ , Kaiba? You always had the answers before.**”

“I am not that man who gave me his last name,” Kaiba growled out, “those sins, the ones that built this island before, that built a company on other’s pain and suffering, on war and conflict, are his and he took them to the grave. I am the one who _rebuilt_ this company into something better, who chanced on something so difficult you would have flinched at it, and I beat every opponent that faced me in that arena. Those I didn’t beat...at least I _faced_ them.” He glared down at Marik, “I am here for myself, and for the person you took for me. _We’re_ here for what is rightfully hers.”

Marik laughed, then motioned, “ **You’re right. You both are there...sacrifices for the alter.** ”

Kaiba saw something move on his left and right, and he glanced over to the left first, blinking as he saw Yugi suspended there, held spread-eagle and looking surprised, confused, and very afraid. A glance to the right showed Yami, immobilized and with the odd eye glowing brightly on his forehead, the dark things that held him making it impossible for him to do more than glance at Kaiba and Yugi, obvious fear in his eyes.

“ **Lose, and you’ll have both lost what you care for the most. And won’t that be a pity? After all of that is done, of course, I’m sure whatever else I do to you two will be less painful.** ” He chuckled, “ **Then again, it was _his_ fault that she even went up against me, isn’t it? Maybe you could let them suffer a little.**”

“I’m not you,” Kaiba said as he waited for the first draw, “and they had every confidence that she would win...and she did.”

That got Marik to glare at him, the attempt to torment Kaiba with talk disappearing. “ **I won. I’m the one who holds Ra! _I_ hold Ra, and no one else!**”

Kaiba saw the clink in his armor, and smirked. “You’re wrong. You _lost_ , and every bit of your Deck, even the God Card, knows it.”

Marik called up his first card, a leech card that could attack without him calling it, and absorbed 500 Life Points when summoned. He has to deal with that card first, and then with whatever trap Marik decided to pull.

_He’ll do his best to get in the one-hit kill. I have to make sure I can stop it, or that I can summon Obelisk and Osiris in order to use them against him._

He’s not expecting the pain, the digging sensation making him gasp as the horrid ‘training’ Gozaburo made him go through stops his actual yell of pain. He instead does his best to rally before he hears another moan of pain.

A look to Yugi is all he needs as he hears Yami yell out, “Aibou!”

Part of Yugi’s body is gone, eaten away by the dark Shadows and looking like a chunk has been torn out. The light sheen of sweat on Yugi’s face says that he’s probably doing his best to not scream, and he nods to Kaiba, the only signal he can give while in so much pain and obviously apart from Yami, who only shows distress over Yugi’s torment.

 _He’s going to push through this as much as I will. But...if there is_ one _sacrifice...where is Marik’s?_

\--

He’s alone in darkness, too alone, Father took Marik away and now, now he’s--

_Rishid...please, come back to me._

The voice was like light and water, and he knew it from before. He remembered that voice, but he’s not sure where the light was, where the water was, he’s stuck in the dark because Father took Marik and he has to protect him, he _swore_ he’d protect him…

_I can’t keep doing this. Please, come back. I can’t save him. I don’t want this to continue, not without you._

He spots a strange woman, looking familiar, and he slowly stands, looking over at her as she glances at him, her tawny eyes like that of a lioness. He blinks at her as she looks him over.

**_You’ve been in darkness too long, Maahes._ **

He knows that. He was abandoned and moonlight had woken him, had brought Mother to him. Marik had been born and initiated in the darkness, with only firelight to show him the way. Rishid didn’t know light until he left with Marik after Father’s death.

**_That is not what I meant. The darkness is of your own making. Marik would always leave you. Look again._ **

He frowns at the assertion, once more hearing the light and water voice speaking, crying for him. He slowly looks for it, pushing the thought of Master Marik aside.

It’s hard. He’s served Marik and Father for so long, but the moment he turns from where they walked, he wonders why. Mother saw him as a son, not a servant. Father never acknowledged him as anything but a servant - not part of their tribe when he’d lived with them for so long, he had no other association. He saw the markings on his face, the ones he’d read up on and taken to show his devotion to them, as an abomination when he’d taken them freely, of his own accord, and willingly. Marik had been taken unwillingly, and because of that, the darkness had grown in Marik. It had been the markings that Marik remained as untainted as he--

No, that’s wrong too. Marik was full of anger and bitterness before that. He treated Rishid just as Marik’s father had, manipulated him into taking punishments or trying to take up his role. Afterwards, it’s only his devotion, his belief that he could keep Marik from darkness, that he did all he’d done, that he _allowed_ all he had done. He never did more than give him small bits of praise, small tokens that he claimed meant that Rishid was family, and then he’d tried to get closer to Yugi and those he blamed for his father’s death.

Rishid had blamed them too, but because he knew that the reason for the invasion into their home, the shifting power of the Shadows becoming more manifest as the Puzzle and the spirit of the Pharaoh gained power. But now...he wondered if it wasn’t because of something else, because the one who said it was the Pharaoh’s fault, who appeared before them in that tomb of death and decay, wasn’t simply trying to get them to come to power and make the Shadows more likely to push for the completion of the Puzzle.

_Rishid, come back to me._

He knows that voice, and he stops his musings on Marik to remember that he’d been protecting another, one who’d been as overlooked and unhappy, who’d answered Marik’s whim once but stopped it after that excursion out. She’d witnessed the same tragedy and had no one. Why hadn’t he been there for her? Why did he just run to Marik and his father instead of comforting the one who, like Mother, had shown him so much love and care and light.

It’s still dark, but he knows that is because he can’t open his eyes just yet. He’s _tired_ , rung out from the pain that the Shadows had pushed on him for using that fake card of a God, and his throat is dry, but he still manages to speak her name, grateful for the chance to say something to her and escape the darkness he fell into of his own accord.

“Ishizu.”

\--

It’s not as easy to get his XYZ dragon onto the field, not without losing life points and having to face both the pain from the game, as well as the added worry whenever another bit of Yugi is eaten away and Yami starts getting agitated. He has to guess that since they’re all in this together, that means that Kaiba has to be careful about what he does. His other problem was what Marik was using as his own ‘sacrifice’. No matter what, the Shadows would need one to hold back, and another to sacrifice as Yugi was being sacrificed. But he could barely see the area around Marik, and the worry over what was going on was making him overly cautious.

Marik seemed to enjoy talking as well, trying to rile up either Kaiba or Yami when he had the chance, but both remained silent at his jabs, Kaiba only announcing when he summoned a monster or used a spell-card.

 _I have to be careful about how I approach this, but I can’t be overly cautious either_ , Kaiba thinks as he pulls out the cards needed to raise his hand to six, as Marik gloats and calls for him to summon one of the Gods.

“Kaiba,” Yami finally speaks up, glaring down Marik, “you shouldn’t be so cautious.”

“So says the man who runs a deck _built_ around caution,” Kaiba growls out before glancing at this hand. He has Osiris there, and despite what Marik might want, he knows he’ll have to play that card and will have to deal with him and his Deck.

_Considering who I’m facing, he’s going to do his best to ensure he can pull out Ra whenever he wants. He probably sent it to the Graveyard because he wants to keep control of it._

“I sacrifice my three monsters, and summon God,” Kaiba proclaimed as he put Osiris on the field, “Come forth, Osiris!”

It’s technically the God that belongs to Yami, but Kaiba knows that it’s only giving him power and appearing because of how things are going. It roars at Marik, anger flowing as the massive body curls around the tower, as if to protect it or destroy it when the time comes, as the secondary mouth begins to open to attack as Marik activates the Dark Revival card that Kaiba had been waiting for him to play.

Despite all that Marik and his Ghouls had done to cheat, the Duel Disks did check for how many of what card was in each Deck, especially for cards that were banned or limited. Considering the two attacks that were based on raising the Sun God from the Grave, Kaiba had been waiting for him to pull this. He’s just upset he didn’t have a card to counter it as the two face off.

He gets the distinct impression that some of Osiris’ blast makes it through, and the Sun God’s light has allowed the arena to be illuminated and he now sees the sacrifice, hanging opposite of Yugi and unconscious, but looking oddly young.

The younger version of Marik, possibly the one before the scarring and whatever else twisted him into who he was, is something that makes Kaiba very aware of what they’d learned from Ishizu, about the ritual and how it had been meant to keep Marik underground, guarding a tomb and the Items he and his sister now wielded. But he was also about as young as Mokuba, and…

_I can’t...I can’t send him into the Shadows._

Marik laughs as he sees where Kaiba is looking, motioning to the unconscious form of his younger self. “ **I see you’ve noticed my own sacrifice. He’s grown much younger since I took over and tucked him away when he tried to reach his sister during your Duel.** ” A dark chuckle as his huge grin seemed to grow, cutting through his skin around his cheeks and pulling his face back in a way that was unnatural. “ **I grew out of the boy’s screams and pain, his anger and bitterness. If it wasn’t for those markings that _servant_ put on himself, I would have had my fun long ago.**”

Kaiba and Yami glared him down as Ra raises above them, the fire shifting around and obviously _angry_ at the one controlling it, but Marik was too high on his own power and ability to notice it as he once more spoke, the damning words that had been used on Katsuye only a few hours ago. Kaiba braced himself as Ra screamed in frustration, rising up and then going down after Osiris and the group.

Kaiba remembers screaming when it hits, the pain as fire boils around them. He hears Yugi screaming, and Yami doing much the same, as Osiris disappears and the fire from Ra spreads around them. Some part of him is ready to give up, to accept the pain and fall unconscious, but then he remembers the child-Marik that is being held, a part of his arm missing from the callous use of Life Points to call on Ra’s ability. Yami and Yugi’s voices, pained as they are, remind him of what else he’s got to stay standing for.

 _Ra was_ hers _. I will get it for her! I will save them!_

He manages to stay standing, Marik’s surprised look when he sees him there as Ra disappears into the Graveyard again making it worth the pain and aches he’s feeling. The embrace from before, from what he hopes is just the connection Katsuye has to the Red Eyes and _not_ her actual spirit, keeps him standing as he watches Marik get over his surprise enough to activate Zombie Gem, allowing him to get back Monster Reborn.

Kaiba doesn’t answer Marik’s taunts, instead glancing over at Yugi and Yami, both of whom are still in pain. Yugi is shaking in his bonds and breathing heavily, and Yami is starting to look murderously at Marik, even as his skin is coated in sweat and reddened by the flames they’d faced.

“I...I’m ok,” Yugi manages after taking in a breath, glancing back at Kaiba when he seems to notice his look. “I’ll be fine.”

That’s a lie, but Kaiba only nods before looking back at Yami, who appears just as aware of the lie but not as willing to ignore it. Kaiba wants to point out how hypocritical he is about Kaiba’s need to protect Katsuye, but they’ll have time for that after dealing with Marik.

“ **Good, you’re still alive. I need you all to suffer a bit more. But draw your final card, Kaiba. Let’s see that luck you and that bitch talked about so much.** ”

“Luck is all you’ve had thus far, though I don’t doubt you stacked your Deck as best you could,” Kaiba finally ground out, the feel of Katsuye’s arms around him, holding him up, making him bold, “Let’s see what luck I have, then.”

If he drew the right card, or a right series of cards, this Duel was his, and he could defeat Marik in this. Beyond that, whatever happened...he didn’t know. He only knew that he had to stop this madness, had to stop Marik, and after all of that, after returning Yami’s memories and doing whatever else needed to be done, Kaiba could deal with all the fallout and help everyone move forward.

He doesn’t hesitate as he draws the card, Marik watching with glee, as if he couldn’t wait to start his own turn, but then he has a feeling, one so odd that he can’t describe it, as if he just...knows…

“I place one card face down,” he says, putting the card down without looking at it, “End turn.”

Yami is silent beside him, as is Yugi. He doesn’t even look at them, instead feeling the hold of arms around him, still tight and strong.

_The power here is strong, and in my Deck are cards from Yami and from Katsuye. She places her faith and skill into the luck of the draw, into knowing firsthand that it’s not skill, but drawing the right cards, that takes you forward. Yami’s power, the power of Osiris and his determination, the power that allowed him and Yugi to gain control of that God, puts trust in their ability and luck. If that card is the one I know it is, the one I put in my Deck as I knew the chances I would have…_

_Luck, faith, and knowledge. That is what I have, and that is what I will beat you with._

“ **If you’re so willing to bet on a card like the worm I crushed under my heel, I’ll let you see the last ability Ra has...the one that only _I_ can do!**” His body starts to disappear after he calls up Ra, disappearing into the monster as it screams and thrashes, Kaiba’s eyes wide as Marik says, “ **I give all but a Life point to Ra, and merge myself with God.** ” The moment all but his eye is up on Ra, riding it in some sick caricature as he also sacrificed his last monster, bringing up the points before saying, “ **Now, attack! Finish all of them!** ”

Kaiba doesn’t even smile, the sudden realization of how far this dark half of Marik had gone making him feel no happiness for this moment. Marik was a thing that needed to be destroyed, and hopefully, the boy he’d once been would be saved, as Kaiba had been saved.

_It’s my turn then, to stop all of this._

“Face-down card, reveal. Devil’s Sanctuary.”

\--

Yugi drew in a breath as he watched Marik revert back, the De-Fuse spell apparently working for him to separate from Ra and throwing it back, screaming, into the Graveyard. From his place outside of his shared existence with Yami, he couldn’t communicate with him as before, but the quiet way both he and Kaiba looked out as Marik laughed at them seemed to say they knew what they had to do.

“Yugi,” Kaiba said, quiet and not turning, as if stuck in place as he faced down Marik, “I have to maintain the Devil’s Sanctuary for this turn.”

“I understand,” he said, bracing as more of him disappeared, the Shadows painfully pulling at his body until it was gone before Kaiba said to Marik, “I activate one other card I learned was quite useful - Multiply.”

“ **WHAT?** ”

“Normally, Yami and Yugi use this to build a wall around them of what others would consider lesser cards. But I just need this to create three Metal Tokens.”

Yugi smiles as he sees the Multiply card, and even more so when the three tokens disappear, Kaiba finally saying, “Now then, time to see _my_ God. Come forth, Obelisk!”

Yugi had felt the answering call and upset over Osiris’ destruction, but he also knew that it had done it’s best and had managed to show the anger and frustration that Ra felt, still chained to Marik when it’s real Master was not there. _We’ll get it to Katsuye. I know we will._

Kaiba wastes no time in ordering Obelisk to attack, the God pulling back and delivering a blow to Marik that sends him back, losing his cards as he falls down. Katsuye would be proud.

Then Yugi sees the face-down card, and suddenly he freezes as Marik activates it, smirking as the Metal Slime forms into a copy of Obelisk, the two facing each other down as Kaiba looks over at him. Yugi swallowed as he realized what this meant, glancing at Kaiba. “This is like when we had to defeat the puppet.”

“I got that,” Kaiba told him simply, quiet enough that Marik obviously couldn’t hear, of it he did, didn’t show that he cared, “but no matter what his claims, it’s not immortal.”

Yugi nodded, seeing Yami look panicked before noticing their cool demeanours. Yugi and Kaiba had been playing Duel Monsters for a long while, and knew about the changes to it as well as the ins and outs of the game. Marik’s use of Slime defenders wasn’t new, and if Kaiba had the cards needed, he could easily summon the ones needed to defeat Marik.

“I place Lord of D. on the field,” Kaiba said, “and use it to attack Bowganian!”

That brings out the fusion for Revival Gem, and Yugi can suddenly see how this might play out. He swallows back a scream as more of him disappears, and again when the bow cuts into Kaiba and chips away at more of their life-points.

“Whatever you’re planning, do it,” Yugi gasps out, swallowing as Yami calls for him and Kaiba stumbles slightly finally planting his feet and glaring down Marik before nodding.

“I plan on it.”

\--

Helping Rishid up to the darkened tower, hearing and feeling the fight raging above, is hard. Ishizu can feel the Tauk reacting to the dark Shadows, the Item all but shivering as they rode the elevator up, Rishid leaning against the wall to try to take off some of his weight and still looking tired. He’s recovering from his own trauma, but having woken up, there’s every chance that he’ll be able to hold himself up and speak to Marik again. Ishizu isn’t sure what he hopes to do, but she somehow knows it’s important. Rishid had been the one who kept the darker edge of Marik back, but over the years, the darkness had eroded and destroyed her brother.

At the same time, she also knows that Rishid views what happened to himself, and to Marik, as something dark and twisted. He knows that Marik lashed out at Rishid for all that had happened to him, and Rishid can only hope that seeing the dark part of Marik, and facing it with the _swt_ of the Pharaoh, as well as with Kaiba, will ease his pain.

They get up to the darkened area that is only lit by Ra’s fire, the monster thrashing under the hold of the dark part of her brother as Obelisk stands behind Kaiba. Ishizu nearly gasps as she sees the state of things, watching at the rapid-fire move to stop Ra’s final attack results in Ra facing down four dragons - three Blue Eyes, and one Red Eyes.

And then the darkness that kept them from seeing the end clears, and she _knows_ what will happen even before it does, and what will occur after this is all over.

“Ishizu?”

Even before Marik, he sees her, and she wants to cry and hug him, because he _sees her_ , not just Marik or Father, but _her_ , and it’s the first time he’s done that. She’s wanted him to see her for so long, to be with her, and hearing her name from him makes her draw in a breath. The darkness is cleared, but what comes after it…

“We need to protect them, Rishid. We need to make sure they’re _safe_.”

“What do you mean?”

“The one that frightened us back then, and the Mighty One...their plan is about to start.”

\--

Before Marik can sacrifice all his monsters, Kaiba had gotten the two slimes to add to Obelisk’s power, the maxed-out god not quite managing to defeat Ra as Marik laughed, saying that Obelisk was the ‘lowest’ of the Gods and couldn’t even touch Ra as the beast thrashed under his grip. But with the summoning flute used by Lord of D to bring out the last of his monsters, he finally says, “And now, with Dragons of Light and Darkness on the field, I play my final card - Flight of Dragons!” The four dragons began to rise up, Kaiba saying as Ra suddenly began to stop flailing, instead staying as he now attempted to get out of the merged body. “By sacrificing the monsters in my Deck, I call upon the Dragons in my hand to wipe away any monster on the board.”

“ **No! You can’t!** ”

“I can, and will. Even if you are left after this, all that will remain is a life point. Let’s see what you can do with it!” He hears more than sees the man who’d cared for Marik, as well as Ishizu, begin to call out to Marik as the remainder eye opened up while the dragons began to circle Ra, the monster waiting and seeming to accept its fate as Marik attempted to fight against it, the monster disappearing completely from the board as Marik let out a scream and the dragons flew back, waiting as the smoke cleared before the group saw Marik standing there, the one they’d met before his transformation after Katsuye’s first win in the finals, blinking slowly as he looked at what was going on in front of him before seeing his sister and the other man. “Ishizu...Rishid…”

“ **No! We have to defeat them. Defeat the Pharaoh and the Priest who were responsible for all your suffering, for all that we had to go through! Let me back into control, we can destroy them, I promise! We have the ability to do that!** ”

Marik looked over at Kaiba and Yami, his eyes betraying his youth and confusion, before he looks down at where they are and all around. He swallows, as if trying to figure out what to say, before looking back at Kaiba and Yami. Something determined in his eyes makes Kaiba wait, not saying anything, before he speaks, his voice accented in a way it wasn’t before, as if he’s barely remembered how to speak Japanese. “No. I don’t want that.”

With little more thought to his other, dark half now attempting to plead with him to let it take back over, to reconsider, to do _anything_ it asked, Marik shifted, straightening, then put his hand over the Duel Disk, signalling that he conceded to Kaiba. The Shadows instantly began to lift as Yugi filled back in, falling down to one side while Yami himself stood, Kaiba waiting as the light from the evening began to spill in as the dark side of Marik disappeared with the darkness, Marik waiting before looking over at them and appearing both sheepish and almost shy, as if uncertain how to approach them.

Ishizu and the other man, Rishid, slowly walked over, Marik glancing at them and relaxing a bit before slowly walking over to Kaiba, holding out the Winged Dragon of Ra. “The chain that...my other...put on is broken. This is yours.”

Kaiba took it slowly, though he doubted he’d allow himself to keep Ra. The feel of it was almost too heavy, and he silently told himself that when this was all done, he would give it to Katsuye. She’d been the one who defeated it first, it was _her_ card.

The moment the card left his hand, Marik all but tore off the Duel Deck before quickly hugging his sister, the movement so like when Mokuba had hugged him at the end of Pegasus’ tournament. Ishizu seemed surprised but hugged him back, her arms tightening around him as Rishid slowly walked forward, finally joining the hug before Kaiba heard a gasp, turning to see what had so surprised Yami.

He had to gasp too when he finally saw it. Standing besides Yami, the differences now even more evident than they were in the Shadow Game they’d just played, was Yugi. They weren’t sharing a body - the Puzzle was firmly on Yami’s neck, not Yugi’s - and their clothing was oddly different in small ways, but they were no longer in the same shared body.

“Oh,” Yugi said, looking over at Yami before smiling. “I didn’t think...I mean...weren’t we supposed to…?”

Yami didn’t answer, instead pulling Yugi into his own hug, managing to kiss his forehead as Kaiba suddenly felt Katsuye’s absence. Everyone was reunited, and they were saved, but now what? Wasn’t Yami being apart from Yugi one of the things needed? What else was needed to complete that ritual and maybe get Katsuye and the others back.

His communicator suddenly let out a loud trill, and he touched it quickly to answer. “Yes?”

“ _Nii-sama, is everything ok?_ ”

“Yes, Mokuba. Looks like I’m the current champion for Duel Monsters.”

Yami gave him a smile as Mokuba sounded cheerful before adding, “ _That’s why they all woke up!_ ”

Everyone fell silent as Kaiba drew in a breath, trying to keep his heart from beating too fast at the news and implication. “Who woke up?”

“ _Everyone! Bakura, Mai, Katsuye, they all woke up just a few moments ago!_ ”


	7. The Book of Two Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle City is ended, but a new fight is only just beginning, as Kaiba finds himself racing to protect the others on his ship, while Yami and Yugi now face down Shadii and one other for control of Yami's future, and the future of the world.

Layla tapped on the equipment, looking over at the information before smiling. She’d had quite a few thousand years to set up her company, and had finally just taken over the Paradis one when she’d learned of that idiot and his attempt to raise a monster called Leviathan. Dartz was not the smartest or best man for the job, and his method of controlling people was heavy-handed, even more so than Shadii’s methods. Gaining control of his company, and therefore getting better control over the ones he’d attempted to single out, was a boon. She doubted she could really hold much control over Varon right now, with Mai now awake and recovering after what had happened. However, there was enough to finish this all before anything else happened.

They’re still on the tower, with Menw, and she wonders what it was that Ishizu saw that got her to try to keep them there after saving Marik. That the boy is still alive is a testament to how much the priorities of her sebah and the others have changed, how much this world has changed. It was the reason why, as time had passed, she’d grown angrier and angrier at ones like Shadii and his group, who sought to bring him back and wrest control of the world into their own hands, to deal such damage to the progress made because they were upset over the loss of power. She glances at the readout before frowning, then letting out a snort before typing on the keyboard. It doesn’t take long before there is a response, and she lets out a breath.

 _That explains it, then._ There’s one last line before she leaves, going back and shifting, using her power to once more be dressed as she had been all those centuries ago, the feel of soft cotton and the weight of her weapon a comfort after so long. She was now in her element, now back to being the one that had protected her sebah, her star, for so long and who had dedicated herself to this end.

Merew purred when it saw her change, rubbing up and against her like a large kitten as she reached up to slowly run a hand over it’s lion’s head, scratching behind the ears as Layla smiled as well.

“It’s time to play that game we’ve been setting up for so long, Merew. I’ll need you to be my lion, and capture the first little marble to bring him into the game. After that, we can get to where we need to go.”

Merew purred again, then disappeared as Layla turned and walked off the ship, some part of her worrying about what she’d seen and where this might lead Kaiba and the others.

_Katsuye has done her part, and Kaiba will be too busy saving his company to bother us. This is the best way to ensure that my sebah finally rests, and the Shadows are put away, as they were meant to have been sealed away after that priest so defiled them and the holy palace. I will end this, open the door, and he can finally know peace._

\--

Kaiba had frozen long enough for Ishizu to say, “Something’s wrong,” before he’d turned, moving to the elevator as Yami called out for him, Kaiba ignoring it in favor of attempting to call on Otogi and Honda, uncertain if the two were safe or not. The others manage to crowd in despite his rush, Ishizu putting herself between Marik and Kaiba as he glared down the other man who seemed to have reverted to a child’s mindset.

“Please, Kaiba, listen to me,” she said as they headed to the last location of Otogi and Honda, Ishizu looking worried as they headed down. “Something is going on, changing the way things are moving. Someone is trying to move things forward before we’re ready, they’re trying to throw us off.”

He glared at her, not wanting to point out how obvious this was, and was almost grateful when Yugi spoke up. “What do you mean? You said before we got here that the Tauk couldn’t see into the future.”

“When Kaiba won, when his path was so set, the darkness cleared and I was able to see what would occur,” Ishizu told him, reaching up to touch the Tauk on her neck, “Two forces are fighting for control over the fate of the Pharaoh. Both are equally dangerous, and will do anything it takes to ensure their agenda is fulfilled.”

Kaiba frowned at the mention of another force in this to make their lives hard. It was bad enough that they were possibly dealing with one that Yami and the others had hinted at being used for something, never mind what the cards supposedly meant before it turned out Yami had his own body, but now there were _two_ forces, and both probably had power over the Shadows.

He had to get everyone out of here _now_ , or hope that with everyone being awake, they might be able to help against whatever was coming after them. Kaiba’s relieved when the elevator doors open, quickly heading out and towards the secured areas before he punched his personalized code, the doors hissing open to reveal only monitors filled with static and various ‘error’ signs popping up. Otogi and Honda were not in the area, and Kaiba whirled on Marik and his family as he saw the empty space, his voice angry as he demanded, “Where are they?”

Marik swallowed, attempting to hide behind Ishizu as the taller man, Rishid, stepped up to get between Kaiba and the two, his own glare as icy as Kaiba’s own. “They could be on the ship.”

“They were _here_ before the fight,” Kaiba argued back.

“That gives them time to get back to the ship,” Yugi attempted, trying to calm everyone down as Yami listened, apparently to something the others couldn’t hear. “I mean, Otogi and Honda would have gone to make sure the others got out, right? You said--.”

“Everyone is downstairs,” Yami interrupts, his tone both commanding and quiet in a way that makes Kaiba instantly stiffen, but not in the same way that he’d stopped when Gozaburo had attempted such a tone. Some other thing, the one that continually pulled out the memory of another lifetime and person, remembers it, and Kaiba is quiet as Yami looks over at him, his red-purple eyes serious and showing only the vaguest hints of his worry.

“My Pharaoh, you can’t think to--,” Ishizu started, stopping when Yami looked back to her. “It’s what they want. It will only cause you more pain, make it so the whole of your sacrifice was in vain.”

Kaiba watches as Yami looks down, then to Yugi, before saying, “We cannot put it off. Your family, my friends, everyone…if we don’t do something to stop this, we will only end up putting everyone else in danger. We must face this now.”

Kaiba heads back to the elevator, his fear over what he saw rising. For all that Yami had managed to figure out where the others were, that didn’t stop Kaiba from worrying. His paranoia that had started after Gozaburo had begun his strenuous and harsh curriculum to make Kaiba the ‘perfect’ heir to KaibaCorp had helped him survive in some situations. The new fears, from his time dealing with Yami, Pegasus, and now with Marik’s sadistic side, only made him fear the worse.

_Let me be wrong. Let what I heard Mokuba say be real, not what I fear it is._

The computers didn’t give out ‘error’ messages unless something was seriously wrong, or someone had managed to get through all of the defenses and mess with them. Kaiba didn’t want to think that the defenses could be breached so easily, but that didn’t stop him from knowing there were still chances of it. With Hinagata and his crew, though, the chance was less likely.

But this seemed like someone who knew the system, who already had a way in…and the bigger question was what they were doing shutting down the computers?

The elevator takes them directly down to the first floor, Kaiba quickly racing out and ahead of the others as he uses the physical training he’d gone through to regain some of his muscle mass to race up to the ship, making it through the doors just as they hiss shut, cutting the others off and leaving him in a darkened, silent ship.

Kaiba drew in a breath, glaring at the darkness before he found the box near the door. It didn't take much to disconnect the ship from the KaibaCorp computer, the silence a bit deeper before the red lights came on, allowing him to at least see as he made his way through the ship. It wasn't long before he found the others - Otogi and Honda were now in the beds that had once held Katsuye and Mai, while Mai was guarding the door with Varon, the two having found something to use as makeshift weapons. Shizuka also held one, but was further away, apparently acting as backup with Anzu. Kaiba wasn't surprised that Anzu didn't have a real weapon - he'd heard about her prowess at dancing, and the fact that it kept her in good shape, and thus made it so anyone would have to get the drop on her before actually landing a blow. A body was to one side, covered in a sheet, and the Chief lay on a bed, bandaged heavily and out but alive, according to the monitors.

 “Kaiba!" Mai said, sounding like she was finally relaxing before noticing that he was alone, "Where are the others?”

“They got caught outside,” Kaiba managed as he squeezed in, the door closing behind him as he looked at the group, the fact that the doctor seemed happy to see the monitors on saying that things had gotten bad before he'd disconnected and reset the system to manual. However, the worried looks that everyone was giving, and the absence of Mokuba and Katsuye, made him tense as he looked over at Mai.

“What happened? Where are Mokuba and Katsuye?”

Everyone was quiet, Mai looking upset over something as Varon looked down, Anzu finally answering his question.

“We're not sure - the computers went crazy after Honda and Otogi got back in. Katsuye went to go and find out if Mokuba was ok, then they said that something was going on. They got taken by these guys who said they were from the...the true KaibaCorp."

“Varon knew them,” Mai spoke up, though it was obvious she was unhappy with what had happened, “He tried to get the two to stop, but then they said that…that it was time, and that you needed to take care of the final ‘loose end’ here.”

Kaiba frowned at that, looking around at the frightened group before he asked, “They went back outside?”

Silence before Kaiba let out a breath. “I managed to get the system disconnected from the KaibaCorp main computer, and we need to pilot it back and send those who are injured back for medical attention.” He glanced at Honda and Otogi. “Can you two do that?”

The two nodded, Kaiba continuing after the conformation, “From what little I could tell, the whole computer system is down or taken over?”

Another nod from both before Kaiba let out a breath. “I’ll see about getting out through the emergency hatch. They have to be on the island.”

Anzu looked worried before Mai suddenly said, “Hey, I’m coming with you!”

“No, you’re not,” Kaiba told her, turning back towards the door, “I have done enough damage with this tournament. I don’t see a reason to endanger people _again_ by dealing with something my company is responsible for.”

Varon moved up beside Kaiba, smirking at him despite the worry. “Tough. We’re coming. I know those two, and Mai isn’t about to leave Katsuye behind.”

A glare was interrupted by a quiet, but firm, “I’m going to get my sister back.” Everyone turned to Shizuka, who slowly stood before nodding firmly, her mind set. “I have to save her.”

Anzu is quiet a moment longer before asking, "Where is Yugi?"

"Last I saw him, he was outside," Kaiba told her, and Anzu considered a moment longer before nodding

"I'm going to help Yugi. It can't be a coincidence that this is all happening. I know Bakura managed to get out only a little while ago - if I follow the way he went, I can get to them."

Kaiba wants to protest, but considering the few that are coming with him as it is, he has no room to do so. Everyone here has faced or seen the Shadows, or what happened to his company when the Big Five tried to take over. All of them care about Katsuye and Mokuba, and denying them the ability to help the others would only hurt his chances in the long run.

"Then let's go. We have only a small window of opportunity."

\--

Kaiba was too quick, and Yami barely had a chance to let out a yell of warning before the door closed behind him, getting the others to stutter to a halt behind Yami and Yugi. The tangible feel of the Shadows being called made Yami frown and look around, stopping when he saw Shadii step out from behind some of the ruins of the weapons that Kaiba’s adopted father had created on the island.

“So it begins,” Shadii said, looking him over with a critical eye before remarking, “You are not what I expected to come out of this. A Shadow should remain such.”

“You’ve always been one who enjoyed that romanticized idea of the past,” a new voice called from a bit above them, getting Yami to look up as he heard Yugi let out a startled sound. He barely saw the chimera leap down before it was in front of Yugi, the asp-tail whipping around and hissing, stopping Yami from moving forward as the familiar voice said, “It’s never as nice as they think. No one ever realizes how hard and bleak lives were back then, how easy things are now. But no, ones like you always want to sweep all of that under the rug, hidden and forgotten, just so you can have something you never really held in the first place.”

“You have no say in this matter, Sakhmet,” Shadii said angrily towards the sound of the voice, his hand raised as the Scales began to tilt. “Release the one who carried the Puzzle and stop this charade!”

“I did nothing,” the voice, Sakhmet, said simply as the chimera growled, still circling around Yugi. Yami looked around quickly as he saw Marik shaking, hidden behind the tall man while Ishizu stood, braced and glaring at Shadii as her hand stayed near the Tauk. “The Shadows gave Yami and Yugi what they wanted, and what would best serve them in the game that had been set up since your lineage desecrated the tomb and took away his name.”

“You assume too much,” Shadii said, his tone even despite the fear he showed, even if it was barely. Yami looked around quickly before a glitter of gold made him pause while Shadii continued, “It was foretold by the first owner of the Tauk that he would return, that he would bring the Shadows with him, and from that time, we would once more have peace and prosperity, that the taint that priest brought upon us would be wiped clean.”

“And yet before you began to work against them, they were on their way to that. A piece of the Pharaoh walked by daylight, and he brought with him his kin, the Shadows, and so far, peace by destroying those you manipulated as the priest did,” the voice continued, certain even as Yami felt the Shadows begin to move around another with an Item.

“We have everyone now, don’t we?” the voice of Sakhmet continued as Yugi looked over at Yami in fear, his own worry doubling as he quickly searched for where the woman was hiding. “We have the Seer, the one with Two Items, the Right Hand…the Thief, and the link to the Pharaoh and to the final Shadow Game.”

 Shadii glanced up, his glare set as he said, “And what of the Eye? Did you put that in someone as well?”

“Why would I put the object that so cursed everyone in anyone, Shadii? But you’re right,” the gold glint, catching the sunlight, finally drew Yami to where the voice was coming from. Bakura was nearby, awake and the two souls now one, the power of the Ring even more stable now. Near him, Anzu stood, defensive and obviously torn between racing to try to save Yugi or staying where she is. Catching the glittering Eye, her tawny eyes serious and her outfit now more like something out of Ancient Egypt than the relaxed clothing she'd worn, was the woman who'd been a friend to Katsuye and Mai, who had only been known to Yugi and the others, never to Yami, and seeing her now, Yami could guess why. She was saturated with the Shadows in a way that only he could see, and the gold color of something like an Item or two glittered on her shoulders and arm, making her look different than the memory of her he'd seen through Yugi's eyes.

“Layla,” he said when he saw her, and the woman his aibou and the others knew as Layla Naunet smiled at him, though it was a sad one that had him blinking in confusion.

“Hello, _swt_ of my sebah. It’s time to finish that game we started so long ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, remember how everyone was so happy that everyone woke up? Do you know how hard it was for me to not say "oh you sweet summer children..."
> 
> But seriously, that was HARD to write up. I'm sorry it took so long! Next up, the Millennium World and the Noah Arc, and some very heavy rewrites.
> 
> Oh, and a note (the first of many, I know it...): The Book of Two Ways, also known as Coffin Texts, is reference to spells and notes that were put into Egyptian Tombs to ensure that the souls of the dead reach Osiris' court without getting sidetracked or eaten by bad creatures.


End file.
